A Matter of Perspective
by dsfeo78
Summary: Jane and Maura are back from their honeymoon and face changes in both their work and personal lives. How will each adjust to the changes they face? A continuation of the Rizzles world I have created from the three previous stories. Starts 3 months after the end of 'Dark Side of Tomorrow'
1. Chapter 1

A Matter of Perspective

**A/N So, I'm back at it again. Since I don't believe "Quadology" is actually a word I suppose we need to just agree that I'm doing a series of stories in the Rizzoli and Isles Universe I have created. I was going to start something new and not just add on to the world I created in the first three stories, but then it occurred to me that I put a lot of work into creating the world I created in the first three stories. So why waste that effort. I happen to like the Jane and Maura from my Universe. So, I decided to do the next installment. Maybe I can make "Quadology" a new word. Maybe it will catch on.**

**Regardless- I have returned for another installment. I just have too much airport and hotel time not to be writing something. This has become better for me than aimless channel flipping or Netflix surfing. So you all get a new story. I hope you all enjoy.**

**General Author Call Outs:**

**As a continuation to the world I created with 'At a Distance', 'Discovery' and 'Dark Side of Tomorrow' if you haven't read those yet. Stop. Click on my name. Read those first. Then come back and start this. I promise you will be slightly confused if you haven't read the first three stories. So go on. Stop reading this, read the others and then come back and play. This will still be here waiting for you- promise.**

**My usual apologies to all my English teachers. Brain still thinks and writes in sentence fragments. Never going to get any better. Sorry. **

**You all know I love chapter cliffhangers. Guess what. That hasn't changed. So, get used to that again. But, you should all know by now I also update daily at a minimum so I still feel I have the right to mercilessly tease you with the chapter cliffhanger because I never make you wait more than 24 hours for a new chapter.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own anything related to Rizzoli and Isles. The show, characters and concepts are the property of Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT. All of the above are much better than I at storytelling. I just mess around. Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander both are wonderful actresses that have brought to life strong, capable female leads and they are exactly who I picture when I play out these stories in my head.**

Chapter 1

Time can be a funny thing. Empirically, time ticks at the same pace regardless of the event. Time is constant. Never changing. But, that's time as a tangible, constructive concept. Then there is the perception of time. That is inconsistent, ever changing. And always a matter that depends upon who you ask and always dependent upon the nature of the event in question. So maybe time isn't a funny thing. Maybe it is perspective that's funny.

Sergeant Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles sat at her desk inside the Homicide division of the Boston Police Department thinking about time and perspective. It had been one of those days. One of those weeks if she was honest with herself about how things had progressed for the week. She was happy it was a Friday in the sense that the weekend could offer a temporary relief from the stress work had recently brought about. Not so happy in the sense that it appeared all but certain that she would be looking at putting in extra hours this weekend because she had had one of those weeks and the mountain of paperwork seemed unforgiving towards her perspective of time.

Her thoughts about time had started as she was thinking about all that had occurred in the last three months. It had been three months since she married her best friend Dr. Maura Rizzoli-Isles, Boston's Chief Medical Examiner. As she thought about time in relation to her relationship with Maura that was purely relative to what event she would think about. She had known Maura for almost six years and from Jane's perspective it had felt like a lifetime. But six years wasn't a lifetime. In fact at age 37, six years was only a small fraction of her life to that point.

And while six years felt like a lifetime, three month of marriage to that point felt as if it had passed in the blink of an eye. It all had happened relatively quickly. Three month from the proposal to the wedding. Three month from the wedding to that Friday afternoon. It's just a lot had happened to both ladies in that span of six months.

From proposal to wedding Jane and Maura had dealt with a major criminal enterprise. Jane had to flush out what turned out to be three dirty Boston police officers including the second highest ranking officer in the department, Deputy Superintendent Mitchell Schultz, as well as exposing the heads of two Irish mob families as working together to consolidate power in Boston. Jane also was stabbed in a confrontation with Maura's biological father, Patrick Doyle, in an attempt to save Maura from being targeted by the Irish mob. Doyle had agreed to enter Witness Relocation to help save Maura and the world all thought he had died after attacking Jane at the prison in Cedar Junction.

The wedding had been picture perfect. It would go down as one of the best days in Jane's life. The ceremony went off without a hitch and Jane had even managed to surprise Maura twice, once by playing the piano for her and the guests and the other by wearing a wedding gown for the ceremony. Their honeymoon had also been perfect. Two weeks in Europe. Italy, Germany and Spain. Maura was an excellent tour guide when they bothered to venture out of their suite. Which hadn't been very often. But a honeymoon wasn't meant to be measured in terms of sights visited or pictures taken. They chose to measure their honeymoon in terms of minutes and hours spent together in bed. On that scale, they were immensely successful.

They had both been back in Boston and back to work for two months now. Even that time was both fast and slow again depending upon the events Jane wanted to focus in on. Quick when it was relative to days and nights spent with Maura. Slow when it was relative to days and sometimes nights spent back at work. Work had been uncharacteristically busy for Jane and riddled with change. Most of it unwanted change.

Jane had declined an offer by now Captain Sean Cavanaugh to become the new Lieutenant of the Homicide division. She didn't want to come out of the field and becoming a Lieutenant would have done just that. Cavanaugh was surprised when she turned him down. He felt sure that Jane would take it if for no other reason than to give Maura some peace of mind with Jane having a safer job. But Jane spoke with Maura about the promotion offer and Maura didn't want Jane to come out of the field unless it was what she had wanted to do. And she didn't. So she said no.

The Lieutenant position was then given to Sergeant Detective Vince Korsak. Jane had recommended her former partner and current Sergeant to Cavanaugh and Sean informed Jane that Vince had been his second choice. Jane requested that Cavanaugh never tell Vince she was in consideration for the job. Cavanaugh promised not to mention it. Korsak didn't need long to accept the Lieutenant position and the entire Homicide division was happy to have Korsak as their Lieutenant. He was an excellent cop and a good man. The entire department was confident he had their collective backs and would do the job as well if not better than Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh had earned his promotion to Captain as well and the division was glad to have him in the position to really watch over the division.

But then things got complicated and changed in ways Jane didn't see coming. Jane's declining of the promotion ruffled the feathers of the highest ranking officer in the Department. Superintendent in Chief Max Hamilton had been the one to personally request that Jane be named the new Lieutenant in Homicide. Cavanaugh didn't relish having to tell him that Jane had ultimately turned down the promotion. What had annoyed Cavanaugh the most was Hamilton was mad not because he felt it was a bad career move for Jane but because he would be denied the PR about having a female lieutenant in a prominent division. Cavanaugh hated the politics involved in the department and Hamilton's annoyance with Jane was all about politics.

Jane had singlehandedly delivered three dirty police to Hamilton. She managed to singlehandedly discover enough evidence for the District Attorney's office to guarantee guilty verdicts against all three dirty cops as well as two heads of mob families. The District Attorney, Patrick Hagan, had never had such air-tight cases handed over to him before. So good was the evidence and information that he was able to avoid long, tedious trials for all five defendants as he was able to gain plea agreements for all five. The case was turning into the wave of press and celebrity that was likely going to ride Hagan right into the Governor's mansion in November. But he had yet to discover that he would owe it all to Jane.

One of the issues with the Hamilton situation was that Jane refused credit for any of the arrests. Her only demand from Cavanaugh when this entire situation started had been that Hamilton, Hagan, and the rest of the department and District Attorney's office were not to be told about Jane's role. No one would ever be told of her direct involvement in the Irish Mob cases. Korsak, Frost and Maura were the only ones who knew exactly everything Jane had done.

Hamilton had figured out that Jane was involved to some extent especially after Jane was attacked by Doyle at Cedar Junction but he was still clueless on exactly what Jane had managed to accomplish to secure the data used to build the case, obtain the warrants and ultimately force five criminals to accept plea agreements. Cavanaugh kept his word and never revealed the entire source of the information that Jane had obtained. Part of how Jane got information was through less than legal means. She had hacked into the computer system of the BPD and befriended a computer expert to unencrypt records and emails. Cavanaugh refused to share that part so he had to continue to take credit for the information himself, which Jane had been fine with.

So when Jane turned down the promotion and requested that Cavanaugh kept it quiet that it was even offered to her Hamilton saw that as lack of gratitude. Apparently Jane was supposed to feel honored that she was given the chance to skip over the rank of Sergeant and go straight to Lieutenant. She felt bad putting Cavanaugh in a position of having to apologize for her but she didn't want the promotion and was firm with her denial. Cavanaugh, more in an attempt to at least appease Hamilton, then offered Jane the promotion to Sergeant Detective effectively replacing Korsak's position in the department. Cavanaugh knew Hamilton could get some good PR off of a female Sergeant Detective too and felt it was imperative that Jane accept this promotion.

Jane did but immediately regretted the decision. According to Cavanaugh she would still be allowed in the field. She knew Korsak worked cases with her and Frost all the time so she really didn't think anything about it. She wanted Frost promoted too but he hadn't taken his Sergeant's examine yet so it wasn't going to happen. Jane had taken her Sergeant's exam over a year previous and had scored a 99%. Her promotion was a lock. So she agreed after again discussing it with Maura. Hamilton got his PR and he seemed happy Jane was gracious in accepting the Sergeant's position.

It wasn't until after she had accepted the Sergeant Detective ranking that Cavanaugh had to inform Korsak that he needed to break up the primary pairing of Jane and Frost. Much like Jane and Frost were primary partners with Korsak overseeing their work as Sergeant, Jane was to shift into that role herself. Which meant that Frost and Detective Riley Cooper were set to be primary partners with Jane the overseeing Sergeant of the new team of three. It wasn't anything she had been prepared for and she hated the idea immediately. Frost hated the idea even more. The last thing he had wanted was to have Cooper as his primary partner.

But, it was done. And no one, including Cavanaugh, could put the genie back in the bottle. Frost and Cooper had played at dating before everyone had discovered Cooper was a cop. She had been undercover at the time she met both Frost and Frankie. Jane thought she was a drug dealer. Turned out she was a Narc detective. And a good one. She had earned her way onto the Homicide team. Jane liked and respected her. Her jacket was clean and full of well-earned collars and merits for duties performed. Plus, after working out their differences, she was dating Frankie exclusively and they were both very happy.

Frost had eventually gotten over Cooper's deception about the undercover work. And Jane believed he had even gotten passed her choosing to continue to see Frankie over him. He hadn't, however, fully accepted her has his primary partner. He liked working with Jane. He trusted Jane. He would do anything for Jane. He hadn't come to that place with Riley. Not even close. And it fell to Jane to fix that. Problem was she didn't exactly know how.

Time was a funny thing. Or maybe it was perspective that was the funny thing. Jane's two months as Sergeant Detective had felt like two hundred. She needed to fix Frost and Cooper's relationship as partners. She needed to accept that she wasn't just a detective anymore. And she needed to get the paperwork in front of her done before the end of the day otherwise she'd have to work on Saturday and that wasn't going to sit well with her wife. Time. Sometimes it went too fast. Sometimes it didn't go fast enough. How could that be constant? Jane would never really know.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dr. Maura Rizzoli-Isles found herself wanting to be anywhere but where she was at the moment. Normally, symposiums and seminars made her happy. She rarely had a chance to mingle with her peers and always found it thrilling to get a chance to share ideas, thoughts and advancements within the field of forensic pathology. She found that in this particular case she had seriously misjudged the intellectual and informational potential the symposium had to offer. She was now regretting not reading the brochure more closely.

Entering her second session of the day she had yet to hear or see a single new idea or field of study. She found every topic to just be a repeat of papers or research studies that had already been presented several years ago. How could there be nothing new in the world of forensic medicine? She hadn't been able to attend a symposium for almost two years and she felt like she was reliving that last one all over again. Two years and not one new area of research? She seriously wanted to just go home.

She had made the trip to Hartford, CT hoping to learn something new. Something useful. She was now willing to admit that wasn't likely to happen. She pulled out her itinerary and reviewed what was still on the agenda for the day. An hour long session about exsanguination and using victim weight and height to calculate the relative bleed out rate to help identify time of death and a two hour session on what was supposed to be new advancements in interpretations of toxicological analysis on tissue and fluids to aid determinations of chemical causes to overdoses or a deliberate poisoning. But Maura had reviewed the article being cited in the toxicology session and the work was over three years old.

No, she was definitely willing to admit defeat. It was time to go home. She pulled out her phone and typed a message.

_Leaving early. Should be home for dinner now._

She would finish this morning session and head home to Jane. If she got out quickly she would even avoid all the Boston rush hour traffic. The drive from Hartford to Boston was only about two hours and she could time her return to just miss the heaviest of the Boston traffic patterns. If she played her cards right she would be home in time to even cook dinner for Jane. Her phone vibrated what she knew was Jane's answer to her text.

_Dr. Rizzoli-Isles playing hooky? It must be bad for you to leave early._

She smiled at the hooky reference. Jane always seemed to linger on anything Maura did that was deemed against the rules or sneaky. She did have to admit that she normally always did the right thing and what was expected of her but from time to time she could surprise people and do the unexpected. She typed another message.

_No new information. Feels like the same conference as the one I attended two years ago._

She waited for a response from Jane. One came quickly.

_Wow- medical Groundhog Day. Get out of there and come home_

She looked at her phone and her brow furrowed. She was now confused. She typed.

_Groundhog Day is in February. It's March. And it has nothing to do with medicine._

And less than thirty seconds later she got a better answer.

_It's a movie reference Sweetie. We'll watch it this wknd. Come home!_

Oh! She should have figured as much. Jane made many things that would occur throughout the day relatable to movies. Apparently she would be watching a movie about a sick Groundhog this weekend. Typing one last message she was going to gather her belongings to leave.

_Leaving in 15. See you soon! XOX_

Maura sat back and sighed a content sigh. She was going home. She had only been away for a day and a half but she missed Jane. They hadn't really been apart for even a night in almost six months. She missed waking up in Jane's arms that morning and decided she didn't like trips that they couldn't take together.

She waited and found an opening to head out of the session she was attending without causing too much of a stir. She made a clean getaway from the session and she went to head to her car. She had already checked out of her hotel room and loaded up her suitcase that morning. She could just get her car and head back. She had made it about half way across the lobby when she heard someone calling out her name.

"Dr. Isles?!"

Maura stopped and turned around looking for where the voice had come from. It took her a minute to finally see someone quickly approaching.

"Dr. Isles? Wait up one second, please," came the voice. The man was still too far away for Maura to figure out if she knew him or not. She stopped and waited for the man to come to her. As he got closer and closer she finally saw who it was. And she smiled. A big smile.

"Devin?" she exclaimed and quickly embraced the man as he finally caught up to her. He returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

"Dr. Isles! I thought that was you. I didn't know you were here! I would have sought you out sooner if I had seen your name on the registration sheets."

They pulled away from the embrace and both were smiling. "You may have missed my name. It's different now."

"You got married?"

"Yes I did. About three months ago. It's Dr. Rizzoli-Isles now."

"Congratulations!" and another hug was called for and received.

Maura pulled away from Dr. Devin Sanders. She hadn't seen him in almost seven years. They had traded emails and chatted from time to time over the phone but in thinking she probably hadn't even spoken with him in well over two years.

"Are you still in San Francisco?" Maura asked.

"Yes. Still slaving away at UCSF. The place was never the same after you left. Are you still in Boston?"

"Yes, I'm still the Chief Medical Examiner."

"You look like you are leaving," and he didn't hide his disappointed tone. "Were you heading back or can you catch up for a minute?"

Maura thought for a second. "I was heading out. I need to get back to Boston. But I can spare a few minutes for an old friend. How about a cup of coffee before I take off?"

Devin smiled. He looked around and there was a small hotel café in the lobby. "Why don't we grab that table and we can chat for a few minutes."

They both wandered over and Devin went to place their coffee order. While he was ordering Maura pulled out her phone and sent Jane a quick update.

_Ran into an old friend. Will still be back for dinner but not quite on the road yet. Will text when leaving_

She took a seat and thought about how long it had been that she had seen Devin. Devin had been her graduate assistant during her time at UCSF. He was great in the lab and he had always been better dealing with students than Maura. While Maura was a successful and popular teacher during her days at UCSF she found it better that questions and concerns got filtered through Devin. He handled people much better than she had at that time.

The last she knew he was still teaching at UCSF. Her old position and her old classes. He was working towards tenure. If UCSF knew what was good for them they would give it to him. She was about to find out as he was returning with their coffee. He sat down and smiled at her.

"This is an unexpected pleasure. Every seminar I scroll through the attendees list looking for you. Now I know to start looking in the R's and not just the I's."

"I don't get out to too many anymore. I just don't have the time. So what about you? Connecticut is an awfully long way away from California. At least I'm only a two hour drive away from home."

"I am set to deliver a paper later this afternoon. I'm on an east coast tour. Otherwise I wouldn't have crossed the country for this regurgitation of last year's symposium."

"Thank you! I was just telling my wife that this was all repetitive information from about three years ago. It's why I was leaving early."

He raised an eyebrow. "Wife?" But he said it with a smile.

"Yes, my wife. She is a Sergeant for the Boston Police Department. Her name is Jane."

"Well, I see several things have changed for you. Again, congratulations. I'm sure if you married her she is definitely something special."

"She is." Maura acknowledge and her whole face beamed. "So what about you? The last time we traded emails you are waiting to hear about tenure. I assume you were granted it?"

Devin nodded, "Yes. Otherwise you would have had me crying on the phone and begging for a job. I was granted tenure about two years ago. Unfortunately it brings with it the publishing and palm pressing obligations. I'd rather just be a professor but you know how university politics go."

Maura nodded. She, too, had once faced the notion of tenure and becoming a career professor. It wasn't anything she had wanted so she avoided it and stayed an Associate Professor until she was offered the Chief Medical Examiner job in Boston. Devin was devastated when Maura had announced she was returning to the east coast. But a career teaching wasn't where she saw herself making the biggest impact. She was always glad that her career carried her to the ME office and not a university professorship.

"So, how's Mary?" asked Maura.

"She's the same. Still puts up with the likes of me for some reason. She'll die when I tell her we ran into each other. And she'll really die when she finds out you are married. Expect a call from her at some point. She will want details."

Maura smiled. "Have her call me. I miss talking with her. We all got out of the habit of keeping in touch and I wish we hadn't. What is your paper on?"

"It's a paper on the concepts of virtual autopsies and the exploration of advancement in medical imaging as it relates to autopsies."

Maura pulled out her itinerary and looked again. Surely she would have seen that topic and Devin's name but it wasn't listed. "You aren't listed on the itinerary. I wouldn't have missed the delivery on that."

"Yeah, I was a last minute addition to this conference. I'm actually set to deliver the paper at both Harvard and Johns Hopkins in the next two weeks. The head of the department added this stop as my 'warm-up' so I could perfect the language before Harvard. He still is as nervous about the Ivy Leagues as he always was."

"So, you'll be in Boston soon? Maybe I can arrange to sit in on your seminar and then we can have dinner. I'd love for you to meet Jane."

"I would love that. I'll email you the paper so you can have an advance peak. I'm set to speak at Harvard next Thursday but will be in Boston starting on Tuesday. If you can work it out I'm free for dinner on that Wednesday."

Maura made a note on her calendar and then smiled. "I'm definitely available. With Jane it depends on if she is tied up with a case or not. She's a Homicide detective. But I'll see what I can do."

They chatted for a few more minutes and then Maura stated that she should be heading out. She wished him luck on his delivery that day and that she would confirm her dinner with him in Boston by Monday. They hugged one last time and she headed out to the parking garage. She was happy to have run into a friend but she was still ready to head home.

She got into her car and sent one last text to Jane.

_On my way. XOX_

She got a fast response.

_Drive safe. I miss you. XOX_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The idea that Maura was returning from Connecticut earlier than expected seemed to energize Jane. She was now more determined than ever to get through the paperwork on her desk. There was no way she was going to have to work on a Saturday unless there was a body involved. That she couldn't control. The paperwork on the other hand was all on her. But she wasn't going to give up her weekend with Maura to paperwork.

She tackled the stack of papers on her desk with impressive speed and managed to be down to just two more reports by the time Frost and Cooper had returned to the station from a notification run. They had managed to finally positively ID the hooker found in an alley in the Back Bay from yesterday. Frost and Cooper were doing the courtesy notification of the victim's family. The girl was only seventeen but had been on the streets for a few years accordingly to Rondo. He had helped with the ID after the victim was surprisingly not in CODIS or AFIS. Too young and too lucky to have acquired a police record yet. Her first introduction to the Boston police department unfortunately had been due to her death.

Jane looked up from her desk, "How'd it go?"

Cooper didn't say anything. Frost was the one that responded. "Nothing too valuable. She had run away from home three years ago. The mother had already assumed she was dead. Not a good home environment. I could understand the inclination to run away."

Jane looked back over at Cooper who was still quiet. "Anything you want to add?"

"No, Frost is right. The girl left for obvious reasons. The mother didn't even want to come see the body. She won't be of any help with the funeral arrangements. Once Dr. Isles releases the body I'm sure the State will have to cover the burial expenses."

Jane nodded. The two detectives sitting in front of her were both very skilled and talented detectives. She felt bad that they were thrown together the way they had been. In the beginning it had pissed her off too. When she had accepted the Sergeant promotion she hadn't thought it would cost her primary partnership with Frost. But it had and there wasn't anything that could be done about it.

She tried to explain to Frost that it could be worse. They could have been split up completely. Instead, Jane was partnered with the two of them on every case she just wasn't the primary anymore. She had assumed Korsak's role and although it had taken her a few weeks to get used to the idea it was something that she was very capable of pulling off. Frost still got to work with her and handle cases with her. Cooper was just in the mix now. And Jane respected Cooper. She was a good cop. She needed time to learn the ways of Homicide but that could only be learned with time in the field.

Cooper had the experience to be a homicide detective. Her time in Vice and Narcotics certainly earned her the spot in the Homicide division. But just like there were ways cases tended to go in Vice and in Narcotics, there were ways cases tended to go in Homicide. Cooper was starting to learn that but that would take time. Interviewing a murder suspect wasn't the same was interviewing a drug pusher or a pimp. The nuances of what to say, how to phrase it and when to drop the not so subtle hints about evidence was something a detective learned through practice. It had been that way for Jane. It had been that way for Frost. It was currently that way for Cooper.

Jane had hoped that Frost would accept Cooper as his primary and help with the transition but it was not going as Jane wanted to this point. He wasn't disrespectful. He wasn't rude. Most of the time he was even pleasant. But Jane knew him. He wasn't trusting of her. He didn't have the same level of trust for Cooper as he had for Jane. And Jane's biggest fear was that he wouldn't completely have Cooper's back. She felt terrible for even thinking that about Frost. No matter what Cooper was a cop and all cops should have each other's backs. But Jane couldn't dismiss the nagging concern that in a pinch there would be an issue between Cooper and Frost. She needed to fix that before her gut ever had the chance to play out.

"With identification we need to re-canvas the neighborhood Rondo said she frequented. Someone had to see who her last John was. You two need to try to track down her movements has best you can."

Cooper nodded. "Has Dr. Pike been able to offer up a time of death?" Even Riley grimaced when she said his name. They all hated that it was Pike covering for Maura while she was at the medical conference.

"Last time I tried to get that answer it was somewhere between three days ago and five minutes before she was found," Jane offered without trying to hide the sarcasm. "So no, he hasn't been helpful as of yet."

"When is Maura back?" asked Frost.

"Later tonight," Jane answered. "But she won't interfere with Pike without absolute evidence of incompetence on his part."

"He's breathing near our victim. Doesn't that qualify as absolute evidence?" Frost asked. All three started to laugh.

"I don't think I can convince her with just that but it may be worth a try," Jane said still snickering. "Why don't you two try to get some of the ladies on Rondo's list to start talking about who our victim 'serviced'." Both Frost and Cooper nodded and turned around to head out again. "Keep me posted," Jane shouted out to them as they left the bullpen.

Jane sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. She was going to have to figure out that partnership soon. She got up and headed to Korsak's office. She knocked on the door. "Come in," was the answer to the knock.

"Hey Lieutenant," and she smiled when she said it. In fact, she smiled every time she addressed Korsak as Lieutenant. It fit him. It fit him very well. But he hated the formality when it came from Jane. So she did it to annoy him. Because she could. And that annoyed him too.

"Seriously Jane. Stop that," but he couldn't help but smile a little too. "Anything on the hooker yet?"

"Rondo helped with identification. Frost and Cooper are out trying to find some of the girls that may actually talk with us. Rondo gave us a few names. They did the notification. Mother's a piece of work. No help for the case though. And Pike still hasn't determined if she is actually dead or not."

She was only kidding about the last part but just barely. Jane had no idea how Pike kept his job. She needed to discuss that with her wife at some point. Surely Maura had plenty of reasons to terminate his employment. Maybe Jane could help her find one or two.

"When is Maura coming back?"

"Tonight. In fact," Jane glanced down at the watch that had been Maura's wedding gift to Jane, "she may be home right now. She was ducking out early. Bad conference."

Korsak nodded. "How are Frost and Cooper getting along?" He figured that was what she wanted to talk about.

Jane released a heavy sigh and flopped down in one of Korsak's chairs. "They're both so civil with each other. No chemistry. It's rather uncomfortable."

"You have to fix that Jane."

"I know, I know. I thought maybe that after the shock wore off that we were not primaries anymore he would accept her as a partner. I was hoping he would like being the leader instead of always the follower he had to be with me. But he isn't where I need him to be yet."

"Speaking from experience Jane, you are hard to let go of as a partner." His tone was quiet and sincere. It touched Jane. They had been partners for a long time until Hoyt had hurt her the first time. Then she refused to be his partner any longer. She knew she hurt him with that decision but she just couldn't continue with him as her partner after he had seen her so broken.

"How did you finally accept the situation?" Jane remembered that he was extremely resentful of Frost for a long time. But then one day he finally accepted that Frost was her partner and the three of them became a great force of three. And Korsak and Frost became good friends.

"It took a long time. So you shouldn't be surprised that Frost isn't ok with this after only two months. It took his actions and concerns for you when Bobby held you hostage for me to see he cared for you and would do a good job as your partner. So, I wasn't ok with it for almost a year."

Jane cringed. She didn't have the patience to wait a year. "I can't wait a year for those two to work this out and I doubt I can recreate a police station hostage situation. And I'm sure as hell not shooting myself again."

"No you can't do any of that. I could take that long because you were still the primary responder for the cases. So things were always under control. But you aren't the primary anymore. That is Frost now. So he has to get resolved with this soon otherwise we both are going to have to deal with the fall out at some point."

Jane nodded and agreed. "Any ideas?"

"I'm afraid not. You are going to have to figure out what is the real issue and get them to work passed it."

"Thanks Oh Wise and Sage One," but she grinned when she said it.

"Go finish your paperwork so you can get home to your wife," he said and pointed to the door.

Jane left Korsak's office with the same nothing she had before walking into his office. He hadn't helped. It was no longer for him to be the one that solved this. It was on her and she knew it. She was going to have to figure out what Frost's real issue with Riley was. Maybe that would give her an idea about how to proceed with getting the two of them to start acting like actual partners.

She finished up the last two reports on her desk and was extremely pleased with herself that she would not have to make a trip to the station this weekend unless there was a new case. With her paperwork done and no sign of Frost and Cooper returning anytime soon, she gathered up her stuff for the day to head home to greet her travelling wife.

Before leaving the station she stopped into the café. Angela had taken over the café about two months ago after Stanley had finally retired. The entire precinct was happy that it was now Angela in charge. Stanley was too cranky for everyone's liking. Plus, with control over everything now the café was quickly becoming one of the better places in Boston to eat lunch or grab a coffee and a pastry. Angela had definite kitchen prowess and the entire station was starting to get treated to her home-style cooking.

Her taking over the café wasn't the only change Angela had gone through over the last few months. After several months of innocent flirtations, Cavanaugh had finally gathered up the nerve to ask Angela out on a date. They'd been dating for two months now and both seemed very happy. Sean was a good man and Jane had always liked and respected him. He had come through for her a several occasions and she felt like she owed him Maura's life. If he hadn't tipped her off six months ago about a potential Mob issue Maura would most likely have been killed.

Jane wanted Angela to be happy. When her father walked out on the family it devastated Angela. Jane was glad that she was finally starting to go out and that she had returned to a happier version of herself. Between the success at the job, seeing Sean and having the personal lives of her three kids all finally seem to be on an even keel, Angela was allowing herself to be happy for the first time in over a year.

Jane would wander by the café frequently throughout the day and she peak in from time to time. It warmed her heart to see her Ma with a genuine smile on her face chatting away with officers and detectives like she was one of Boston's finest. And she was. She just belonged to Jane first. That thought made her smile as she entered the Café to say a quick hello.

"Hey Ma!" she said as she maintained the smile on her face.

"Hey Janie. Coffee?"

"No Ma, I'm heading home actually. Just thought I'd stop in and say good night."

"Home? Is Maura back already?" she looked at her watch to try to figure out if it had been time for Maura's return.

"She should be there now. She was skipping out early. Said it was a bad conference."

"Well, I'm glad she's home. I'm sorry she went all the way to Connecticut for a bad conference but at least she's back. You two have plans for tomorrow?"

Jane nodded. "There's a new exhibit at the art museum she just has to see. Otherwise nothing pressing. I'd prefer just relaxing at home but I have a feeling she's going to drag me all over Boston tomorrow. But dinner with everyone is still on for Sunday. Tommy's bringing the new girlfriend."

Tommy had started seeing a really sweet girl he had met at the hardware store. Jane and Maura both had met, and approved of, her about three weeks ago but Tommy hadn't had the nerve to introduce her to Angela as of yet. It was starting to irritate Angela. Jane found it funny. Angela hadn't obsessed over Tommy's love life in a long time. Now that Jane and Frankie seemed to be somewhat settled it was definitely Tommy's turn in the hot seat. Both Frankie and Jane did everything they could to egg on Angela and get her going. Tommy had been out of that loop for too long and both siblings were trying to double Angela's efforts to get caught up. Poor Tommy never really stood a chance.

Jane had been so proud of him lately. He was really turning his life around. He had managed to secure a full time construction job and his boss loved him. He was good at the work and his boss was giving him more and more responsibility. Tommy had taken over Jane's lease on her apartment when she moved in with Maura before the wedding. She had let him have almost all of the furnishings and he had done excellent in keeping up the place. It was the nicest place he had lived in and he was really proud to call it home. He hadn't had a drink in over a year and he had stayed out of trouble. Jane and Frankie were finally feeling that his troubles were behind him. They all were happy that the family drama seemed to be at a minimum recently.

"Oh! I get to meet this girl finally? Oh! I'm so excited! It's completely unfair that you and Maura have met her and had dinner with her already. I was beginning to think he was trying to freeze me out of him life. I can't wait to meet this girl. Maybe they'll get married." Angela grinned from ear to ear just thinking about it. Jane just laughed to herself and was happy she was already getting Angela going. It wasn't even Sunday yet. Poor Tommy.

"Ma, before you have them walking down the aisle let the poor girl survive her first official Rizzoli family dinner night. Can Sean make it?"

"He says yes," and Jane noticed the nature of Angela's smile changed when she went from thinking about Tommy to thinking about Sean. Jane was beginning to think that Tommy and the subject of future marriage may soon have some company. That was a pretty serious smile coming from Angela at the thought of Sean Cavanaugh. Jane smiled and decided to face that when and if it was a possibility.

"Good. Alright, I'm heading out. I'll see you later." She leaned in and gave Angela a kiss on the cheek. As she made her way out of the station she was quickly consumed with the thoughts of getting to see and hold her wife. It had only been two days but what a long two days it had been. Again, she wondered about time and whether it was really a constant thing. She doubted more and more.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jane pulled into the driveway and was immediately thrilled to see Maura's Prius. She was home. Jane's heart soared. She wondered if she would ever get passed the excitement she had from seeing Maura daily. The electricity that still seemed to run through her body when Maura would touch her even if only accidental and in a completely innocent manner. In fact, Jane wondered if the innocent touches weren't the best touches of them all. She sometimes wondered if Maura had any idea what she was capable of doing to her.

She threw the car in Park and didn't even bother collecting any of her things. She'd get them from the car later. She entered the house and had every intention of hollering out Maura's name but as soon as she stepped one foot inside the doorway her speech was cut off by a set of wanting lips which seemed to be attached to her wife. Her wife who was now forcefully pushing her back up against the door. This was certainly an enjoyable way to be greeted.

Regaining her senses and overcoming the initial shock of the unexpected pouncing, Jane fully enveloped Maura in a passionate kiss. Both finally only breaking the contact when neither seemed to be able to last another second without at least trying to inhale actual oxygen. Panting and with silly grins on their faces, both rested their foreheads against the other's and stayed that way until their breathing turned towards what could pass as normal.

"Hi," Jane offered up first.

"Hi," was Maura's answer.

"I'm glad you're home. I missed you," and Jane leaned in for another long, lingering kiss. Slower this time and she savored the feel of Maura's lips on hers.

"I…..missed….this," Maura replied in between a series of smaller kisses as she was unwilling to completely separate her touch from Jane simply to answer what she felt was a rather obvious statement.

They lingered in the entryway for a few more minutes. Finally, Jo must have heard the voices or the heavy breathing as she stormed into the entryway and bolted up attempting to jump right into Jane's arms. She failed at her effort but that didn't keep her from trying again and the second effort made both Jane and Maura laugh. Jane caught her mid-jump on her third effort and she allowed herself to be assaulted now by Jo's overactive tongue. Maura backed away. Clearly Jane would need to wash her face before Maura took her greeting any further.

They walked into the house and after Jane had sufficiently scratched Jo's head she put her down. She tried to wipe off the dog drool with her hand but was glad when Maura handed her a wash cloth to help out that endeavor.

"She got me pretty good about an hour ago," Maura laughed sympathetically.

"I get her going after you, you been gone for two days. I just saw her this morning. She really has no concept of time does she?" But Jane smiled as she said it.

"Not for the ones she loves I guess. And truthfully who can blame her. I mean I attacked you the minute you entered the house too if you recall."

"Oh, I recall and a repeat performance would not be a bad thing," she said with a sly grin.

"Why don't you finish wiping off the rest of Jo's attack and maybe we'll see what we can do about that," she answered with her own grin. She turned from Jane and slowly sauntered towards the bedroom waiting for Jane to take the hint and hurry up.

Jane was way ahead of her. She couldn't have washed off the last of the Jo slobber from her face fast enough. She then caught up to Maura in the hallway outside the bedroom. Maura had already started to help the situation along. She was wearing about half of what she had on just two minutes prior. Jane took the hint and several layers of her own clothes quickly were discarded in a trial that would start in the hallway and lead to their bed by the time they were done.

They spent the next two hours making up for the lost time the conference seemed to have stolen from them. Both taking in each caress, touch, kiss. Each ensuring the other's needs was addressed. They had come to know each other so well each knew exactly what, where and how the other wanted and in most cases needed to be touched. They both just enjoyed the other. The closeness having returned. They had yet to get to a point where the love making felt routine or uninspired. Both seemed to still be in a place where every encounter was as exciting as the previous. It hadn't gotten old. Both hoped it never would. They had such a hunger for each other. Neither had experienced such a deep longing and desire for another before and both hoped it had only been reserved for that one perfect someone. In their case, for each other.

At some point one of them mentioned the need for food. True, both were hungry. It would require getting up but both seemed to agree that they had the better part of the night still ahead of them so they were should make an allowance for food. Both decided to get up and head downstairs. Jane grabbed lounge pants and a t-shirt. Maura something similar but slightly more fancy for the refined Doctor.

Once in the kitchen they found their way towards normal conversation.

"Really Jane? Pizza for dinner yesterday? You could have cooked something healthier," Maura commented when she found the Regina's pizza box in the refrigerator.

"Hey, it was late and I was tired. And I got the chicken and spinach pizza so that's sort of healthy," she gave a smile you would expect from a toddler who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Definitely a look too cute for Maura to actually get mad about Jane's dietary habits when she wasn't around.

"It's still takeout. And pizza. So no. Not healthy." But she smiled in spite of herself. "I really should have started something for dinner when I got home. We may need to resort to leftovers or new takeout. Sorry. I got a little distracted trying to do some research."

"I hate to tell you Doc but considering how I was greeted at the door anything you would have tried to make would be ruined right now anyway. There are plenty of leftover options. I'm sure we can piece something together to tide us over until tomorrow. I was thinking about taking you out for breakfast in the morning anyway."

"Oh you were, were you?"

"Yep. I know you want to see that new exhibit at the art museum and I can't do art or museums on an empty stomach. So I thought breakfast, then fine art."

"That sounds like a plan I can live with," she answered and started to work on two plates of leftovers for both her and Jane.

"I'd ask how the conference went but the simple fact that you left early already tells me a lot. Was it really that bad?" Jane asked not really getting too many details earlier about Maura's time in Connecticut.

Maura sighed a frustrated sigh. "Yes. There was nothing new which surprised me. Half the articles being presented were written three years ago. I'm not sure why they bothered to even host the conference if there wasn't new material for others to review. It was extremely disappointing. It makes me wonder if I should consider starting a new research project."

"Is that something you want to undertake?"

"Not really but there is certainly a gap in quality information in the field. Maybe I'll make a few calls and see what some of my counterparts think."

"I'm sorry it wasn't what you expected it to be," Jane offered up. She knew Maura was disappointed but didn't really know what else to say.

"Thanks. Not the worst tragedy in the world. How was your day?"

Now it was Jane's turn to release a frustrated sigh, "The same as the rest of my days were this week."

Maura looked at Jane with sympathy, "Still no progress on the Riley and Barry front?"

"Nope. And I don't have a clue how to even start to fix it. They are both just so polite and civil with each other now."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Absolutely. In this case it could be disastrous. Maura, cop partnerships aren't like normal people partnerships or friendships. It's very, very different and complicated. For a partnership to really work out with cops there needs to be this quiet trust. It's just there. It's not talked about. It's not explained. It just is there. And right now, it's nowhere near Frost and Cooper."

"Maybe they just can't be partners."

"Maybe. But that will complicate things even more. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet," Jane released a sigh and was done thinking about that for the time being. "Who was this old friend you bumped into before you left this morning?"

"Dr. Devin Sanders. He was my graduate assistant when I was still working and teaching in San Francisco." Maura answered but Jane immediately picked up on a hidden tone.

"Is everything ok with him?"

Maura was a little surprised Jane had picked up on her hesitation. But then she shouldn't have been surprised. Jane was an excellent detective and she also knew Maura too well.

"I'm not sure, actually. It was nice to see him and our chat was pleasant but there are a few things that I'm now confused about."

"Such as?"

"Well, for starters he wasn't listed on the presenter's itinerary. He said he was delivering a paper later today. But he wasn't listed as a presenter or even registered at the conference."

"Weird, did you ask him about it?"

"Yes, and he said he was a last minute addition. I didn't think too much about the answer until…"

"Until?"

"Until I tried to pull up his research and paper on the Internet. It doesn't exist. He claimed he was just perfecting the language of his speech before he was to deliver his paper to both audiences at Harvard and Johns Hopkins in the next few weeks. But I checked and neither location lists him on their calendar as an upcoming speaker."

"Ok, that's really weird. Who lies about scientific paper speeches?"

"Apparently Devin does. I just don't understand why."

"Did he say what the paper was on?"

"Virtual autopsies and medical imaging. An up and coming new field for enhancements based on technological breakthroughs. But again, I looked at all the medical journal peer review and I can't find a single article or even a review written by Devin in almost three years. I'd been trying to trace his work since I got back until you came home. But I couldn't come up with anything."

"Well, can't you just call and ask him what's really going on?"

"I could but I'd like to know what the deal is before I speak to him again."

Jane smiled. Some of her cop instincts were rubbing off onto Maura. It was always better to walk into a conversation with information than without. Without details Maura had believed everything her friend had told her. It was clear that it bothered her that he lied to her for apparently no real reason.

"I can't say I blame you for that. Were you supposed to talk again at all?"

"As it stands we are supposed to have dinner with him on Wednesday."

"We?"

"Yes, we. I had wanted you to meet him but now I'm not so sure I want to even have dinner with him if he can't even be truthful with me over coffee."

"When will you know about Wednesday?"

"He was supposed to email me a copy of his paper and details about dinner. Now I'm not so sure I'll see either." As she finished her sentence her phone buzzed the alert for an incoming email. She glanced down to see the sender and opened up the email. She stood staring at her phone for a minute and Jane immediately knew she didn't like whatever it was she was reading.

"Maura?"

"Um…ok this officially makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."

"What?"

"I sent an email to the Dean of Medicine at UCSF asking about the research Devin was working on. I sent it before I looked into the speaker calendars for Harvard and Johns Hopkins. I'm just getting his response."

"What does it say?"

"He says Devin isn't affiliated with UCSF anymore. And hasn't been for over two years. Apparently he was released before the final determination of his tenure status was granted. Devin told me he got his tenure. Nothing he said to me today was the truth."

"Maybe he was just embarrassed to admit to his former teacher and boss that he didn't get the job," Jane tried to offer up a reasonable explanation.

"Maybe. But then why seek me out? I was leaving and almost out the door. He came shouting after me. If he didn't want me to know he hadn't been granted tenure why come speak to me? I hadn't even emailed him in over two years. He could have just let me go."

"I really don't know Maura. It doesn't seem to make any sense. I'm sorry." Jane didn't know what else to say.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Thanks for the positive feedback on my return with a new story. It was nice to hear that you all like the R&I universe I have created. I'll do what I can to deliver a good story and try to keep you all guessing for a little while. I find it an interesting challenge. Enjoy.**

Chapter 5

Saturday passed without major incident. Jane was never called into work and she had been right about Maura's desire to drag her all over the city of Boston. Breakfast to start the morning had been a strategic intervention on Jane's part. She figured the art museum would take time. Maura didn't glance at works of art she studied them. After that she figured shopping would become necessary as Maura always seemed to be inspired by new works of art and trips to the art museum always ended with trips to several boutiques and more clothes for Maura's side of the closet.

Breakfast was the only thing that Jane could cling to for her sanity. She saw the day progressing before it had ever started. And heading into the fifth boutique with no end to the day in sight she knew the eggs and hash browns she loaded up on was all that was really getting her through the day. Her only other choice would have been to leave and go home. But she didn't want to not spend the day with Maura. So she was resigned to spending the day watching her shop.

To be fair, Maura had put up with many a Boston sporting event for Jane. So it was fair in the overall constructs of their relationship. But Jane was desperately wishing there was a good sporting event that she could look forward to. However, pitchers and catchers had only reported to spring training a few weeks ago and the Celtics weren't playing until Sunday. And Jane wasn't talking about how the Patriots season ended. Again. And the Bruins had lost their season to a labor strike.

So she was relatively well behaved during this shopping trip. She only fussed when Maura tried to encourage her to try on new clothes. Clearly that wasn't going to happen. One day Maura would just come to accept that she and Jane shopped in completely different manners. She just didn't seem to be quite there yet. So she would try from time to time. Jane always thought she was just testing the water. In that respect it was cold every time.

And then it was Sunday. Rizzoli family dinner had turned into a crowded venue. And everyone loved it. The weekly tradition had become something everyone relied upon to stay connected and current with the extended family. Tonight's dinner was no exception. A full guest list was expected. Maura and Jane. Angela and Sean. Frankie and Riley. Tommy and Stacey (the new girlfriend). And outside the established couples, Korsak, Frost and Constance were all supposed to attend. The people, the food, the sounds all managed to fill the Rizzoli-Isles household and no one wanted to miss even a week.

The conversations were casual and entertaining. Everyone was very at ease with each other. By now they were all regulars with the exception of Stacey. But Tommy and Jane had warned her enough ahead of time about what to expect she was doing a good job holding her own. Jane had spoken with her on Friday morning to warn her of Angela's tendency to bear hug, pry into personal issues and mention marriage at least ten times in one conversation. She told her how best to handle it and offered to rescue her if Angela took things too far. Jane really liked her for Tommy and didn't want Angela scaring the poor girl off.

That didn't keep her and Frankie from egging on Angela from time to time. Much to Tommy's chagrin. But again, he knew it was his turn for Angela's full blown attention to his love life. He had escaped it for too long. Jane, being married, finally felt the pressure completely removed and Angela seemed content to focus in on Frankie and Riley and now Tommy and Stacey. Let the boys deal with her for a while. That was fine with Jane.

Angela had even started working Maura over about finding someone new for Constance. Maura had almost spit out a mouthful of wine the first time Angela started trying to pair up Constance with a few of the detectives from the station. It was one of the funniest things Jane had seen in years. Maura delicately talked Angela out of pursuing the notion of a blind date for her mother and had pleaded with Jane to intervene on Constance's behalf. It took Jane three separate conversations to convince Angela to leave Constance's personal life alone. Her mother meant well. She really did. But there were limits. Only Angela really didn't recognize any of them.

So, with her children now all seemingly coupled and Constance completely on the hands-off list, she turned her sights on Korsak and Frost. Two perennial bachelors. Jane pointed out that Korsak would not make a fifth trip down the marriage lane so Angela seemed to spend more time focusing in on Frost and finding him a good, quality woman. Jane sat back and laughed. Frost never knew what hit him. And he, too, never stood a chance. He could compare notes with Tommy by the time it was all said and done. Angela had found her new quest and her new quest was finding love for Barry Frost.

Jane had kept an eye on the interactions between Frost and Cooper than night. She was genuinely confused by what she saw. Their interactions, outside of work, were relaxed and sincere. They seemed to get along just fine. Both speaking with the other. Both at ease with the other. There was no tension. No hesitation or tones of distance or distrust. Frost and Frankie were as close as ever. Jane classified Frankie and Frost as best friends. There was no hint of any issue between the three of them.

So Jane couldn't understand why once the work started the relationship between Frost and Cooper changed. Gone was the ease she was seeing tonight. Gone was the casual chit chat and banter that was flowing so freely. Gone was the calm demeanor and genuine interest. Replaced instead with tension, unease and hints of mistrust. But why only at work? Jane could not seem to get a handle on what the issue was between the two detectives.

Tonight the group enjoyed a nice casual dinner. It was a good night. A happy, relaxed night. Until the phones of several members of the party started to ring. Frost and Riley were called first. Then Jane. And finally Maura. All four called to duty. Jane dispatched Frost and Cooper first. She would follow shortly. She had been used to being first on scene but as a Sergeant now she was starting to get better at letting Frost be the primary. She found it helped if she showed up about twenty minutes after Frost and Cooper. That kept her from immediately handing out directions and taking over. She now usually arrived with or just after Maura.

Her promotion to Sergeant had at least allowed her and Maura to travel to crime scenes together more. Instead of investigations and notifications she would now usually return to the station to start coordinating any needed resources. She would start any of the work they may need the BRIC for so with Maura returning to the station to start the autopsies it was working out for them to drive together. Which, in fact, was what they were doing on that Sunday night. They were about twenty minutes behind Frost and Cooper by the time they rolled on scene.

She let Maura enter the scene ahead of her. She lingered a bit to speak with the officers controlling the scene. Not that the scene was too out of control. They had responded to a call of a male victim found inside his room at the Boston Harbor Hotel down on Rowes Wharf. Jane was mostly concerned about any media coverage considering how much of a tourist draw the wharf and the hotel were. But the responding officers said there were some curious people but no real media presence as of yet. She thanked the officers and headed inside.

Jane knew she was in for a bad night the minute she walked into the hotel lobby. She wouldn't know just how bad of a night quite yet but from the moment she stepped foot on scene she knew her night was ruined. It started with Frost and Cooper. What started her frustrations was that no one had vetted the desk clerk or had requested a hold on any of the security footage for the hotel for the previous seven days. With both Frost and Cooper on scene this should have been addressed already.

The crime scene was on the eighth floor. Jane stopped and spoke with the hotel manager. She requested a hold on the video footage from the previous week. The manager was happy to see to that detail. Jane would let Maura determine time of death in order to figure out how much of the footage would be necessary to review. The hotel manager stated their system had sixty day retention and he would ensure all sixty days were held until the police had what they needed.

The manager also gave Jane the registered name, Paul Turner, on the hotel room. But the manager was unable to tell Jane if the body upstairs in the room was in fact the registered guest. He had never seen Mr. Turner before. Jane requested a printout of the registration information and the manager produced that immediately. Jane wanted it more for possible phone contact information. She asked who was on duty at the lobby desk for the entire day and the manager said he would make schedules and employees available as the police needed.

Jane thanked him for his time and cooperation and then headed up to the room. She was stewing. All of what she had just done with the manager should already have been addressed by either Frost or Cooper. Most likely Cooper since Frost was the primary. But none of it had been addressed yet. It was a clear miss and it wasn't going to sit well with Jane.

She got to the crime scene and her mood did not improve. She stayed outside for several minutes to observe the interactions between Frost and Cooper. She immediately hated what she saw. She watched two detectives working independent of each other. Both making notes. Both giving directions to lab techs but neither dealing with or speaking to the other. How could they be fine just an hour ago and now be acting as if the other didn't exist? No, this was a very dysfunctional partnership and it would stop soon or Jane would break up the entire department if she had to.

Maura noticed Jane in the hallway. She also noticed the look on Jane's face. She immediately understood what Jane had been upset with. She, too, had noticed the two homicide detectives working separate from each other. It was sad. Maura had been spoiled with watching Jane's interactions with both Frost and Korsak over the years. It was seamless. They worked together and complimented each other and covered an entire crime scene in record time. Frost and Cooper seemed to be competing for who could find the most information or clues or who could give the most direction and she feared they were missing the bigger picture. Based on the look on Jane face, Maura knew she was coming to a breaking point. She felt bad for Frost and Cooper. They weren't going to like what was headed their way.

She directed her team to get the victim on the gurney to be taken to the morgue. She had noted everything she needed at the scene and was ready to pack up and head back to the station. She stepped out into the hallway to speak with Jane before heading down with the body.

"You're not happy," she said plainly.

"Not one bit. I'm done." She said as her eyes drifted from Frost to Cooper. "I don't have time to deal with petty crap." She was getting madder and madder as she watched.

"I'm sorry. But maybe it is time for you to push back on them both a little. Maybe they don't realize what they are or aren't doing."

"Maybe. But I can't compromise a crime scene or an investigation while they try and figure it all out."

"I know. You need to address it. I'm through here. I'll ride in with the victim."

Jane shook her head. "No, take the car," and she handed Maura the keys. "I'm going to ride back with Frost."

Maura didn't argue. She knew Jane planned to tear into Frost when they were away from Riley. She would get them both when they were together but she knew Jane had things to say to Frost Riley wasn't meant to hear. So she took the keys. "I'll see you at the station a bit later."

Jane nodded. "What was cause of death?" she asked before Maura could take off.

"I need to complete the examination, as you know, but there was significant blunt force trauma to the head. But he had what also appears to be multiple stab wounds to the upper chest. I'm not sure which will turn out to be the official cause until I do the autopsy. Do we have an ID yet?"

"I'm not sure. We have the name of the registered guest for this room but the manager couldn't guarantee that the victim was the same person. I'll have to see if an ID, cell phone or any other means of identification was found or we need to run him through AFIS and CODIS."

"I'll run a blood sample through CODIS when I get to the station to get that started. I'll see you soon. Sorry about this," she said and pointed towards Frost and Cooper.

"Thanks. Enough is enough now." She watched Maura walk down the hallway and then she entered the room. The look on her face told both Frost and Cooper their night was about to go south in a hurry.

Jane stood in the entryway of the hotel room and stared at the two detectives. She didn't say anything for a minute and by the looks on their faces they both knew she was unhappy. Frost went to say something but was instantly silenced by the look given to him by Jane. She looked around and saw that the room was still full of CSRU techs and she didn't want to dress down her two detectives in front of an audience.

"Detective Frost, Detective Cooper… a word with you both out in the hallway please," in a flat, conservative tone.

Jane turned around and walked out expecting both detectives to follow her. They did. All three walked away from the crime scene and towards the elevator area to get out the earshot of the CSRU team. Jane started.

"I've been patient. I really have. I knew two months ago that this wasn't the most ideal situation for either of you. So I didn't push. I figured that after you both got passed the shock of the sudden changes that you would realize that this was how it was going to be going forward and you would both accept it and adjust. I was wrong. And I'm now done being patient.

"I'm sorry I expected you both to act like professionals. I'm sorry I expected both of you to do your jobs. I'm sorry I expected both of you were capable of more than either of you have given to each other or to yourselves these last two months. Mostly I'm sorry that I put my faith in you both to overcome your personal issues.

"None of this can continue. And it won't be tolerated any more. You either figure out a way to work with each other as partners or I'll have you both transferred out of Homicide faster than either one of you can say Traffic. Am I making myself clear?"

Both Frost and Cooper were too stunned to say anything. They both quietly nodded. Jane was now so mad she didn't want to even ride back to the station with Frost. She had said her peace for the moment and she would deal with the rest tomorrow. She knew she needed to get Korsak in the loop especially if she was serious about moving both out of Homicide.

"Finish up here. Together. The hotel manager was generous enough to make his lobby staff available to you as well as the video footage from the last sixty days." Both Frost and Cooper cringed finally realizing what they missed that had probably set off Jane. "Finish up here and then go home. I'll speak you both in the morning."

She didn't wait for an answer or a discussion. She walked away. She took the stairs not wanting to wait for an elevator. Once downstairs, she flagged down one of the crowd control officers. "Mike, did you drive your squad here?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a smile.

"I need to borrow it. Can you get a ride back once your shift is up?"

He looked a little confused but nodded his head. "Yes Ma'am. I can catch a ride back with Jefferson." As he said this he handed over his squad keys to Jane.

"Thanks. The squad will be at the station when you are ready to head home." She took the keys and walked away.

Outside the cool air felt good. She needed to work out her frustrations before she really addressed Frost and Cooper. She would speak to them both tomorrow. She hit the door unlock button on Mike's keys until she found the squad that was his. She was heading straight back to the station. She wanted to see if Maura had an initial hit from CODIS for an ID and she needed to speak with Korsak about what she had just threatened to do.

Definitely a bad night. And the day had started out so promising. But what Jane didn't know yet was that her bad night was going to get a whole lot worse before the morning would come.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Time was not constant. It couldn't be. How could anyone argue that time ticked away at the same pace when just that very day the first twelve hours seemed to pass quickly and without pause. And the second twelve hours were starting to feel as if they were dragging out for forever. How can that be constant? Jane still didn't understand it and definitely doubted it to the point of formulating a new belief about time. Part of that belief was that she may have found a day that would just never come to an end. Another part of that belief was that time could be cruel.

Jane pondered the consistency and perception of time as she drove back to the station. Those thoughts didn't improve her mood. She was still fuming over the issues with Frost and Cooper. What frustrated her the most was that they were both better than what she was seeing. Both more professional and much better detectives. But apparently they were better alone than when together. But that just wouldn't work in the life of a cop. As a cop, you needed to have someone with you. Backup. It wasn't negotiable. Jane, of all people, knew the consequences of not having backup. She merely needed to look down at her hands anytime she wanted a reminder of that.

As her eyes trailed down to her hands and her thoughts trailed to the events that had caused the scars on her hands she knew that her big mistake that day was trying to go after Hoyt alone. She had been young and eager. But stupid and naive. She assumed she could handle the situation. She thought the badge and the gun made her invincible. Nothing seriously bad had happened to her before that day and that gave her a very false sense of security. She was fearless and it led her to be careless. She got the tip about where Hoyt might be and she went charging off guns a blazing. Her carelessness and dismissal of her partner, her backup, had almost cost her life and that of Catherine Cordell.

This was what Jane feared the most about the current relationship between Frost and Cooper. She feared that it would cause one of them to do something just as reckless, just as careless as Jane had foolishly done. And one of them would get hurt. Seriously hurt. Jane was desperately trying to prevent that fate for both of them. If it happened it would impact them both regardless of who got physically hurt. Just like Hoyt's attack impacted both Jane and Korsak. She never wanted anyone she was responsible for ever having to deal with what she had to survive. She would make good on her threat to transfer them both from homicide if she felt it would keep them safe. She had not been bluffing. Those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it. Jane had learned her lesson and was now trying to avoid a repeat of history with a new set of players.

Jane pulled the squad into the garage and headed into the station. She first stopped by the front desk and dropped off the keys to the squad she had borrowed. She then took the elevator ride up to the homicide division to speak with Korsak. She was a little surprised to see he was at the station this late on a Sunday but she had seen his car parked in the garage. She thought she wasn't going to get a chance to speak with him until tomorrow but since he was there she needed to talk with him.

She knocked on his door and waited for his shout of "Come in." She entered and he seemed annoyed. "I didn't think I would see you tonight," she offered up.

"I got called in about thirty minutes ago. So did Cavanaugh," his tone was a forewarning for whatever he had yet to tell Jane.

Suddenly she went from wanting to talk with him about her detectives to wanting to hear from him what had called both he and Cavanaugh into the station on a Sunday night.

"What's going on?"

"We got a positive ID on your hotel victim."

"Ok," Jane didn't seem to realize why this was an issue yet. "Any chance it's Paul Turner?"

Korsak looked at Jane with a bit of shock. "What, you knew him too?"

"What? Me, no. Paul Turner was the name of the registered guest for the hotel room but we didn't have a positive ID yet. Why? Is the vic Turner? And who knew him if you are asking if I knew him too?"

"The victim is Dr. Paul Turner. And the District Attorney Patrick Hagan knew him. He helped make the identification."

Jane knew there was a story Korsak hadn't even begun to start yet. "How is Hagan involved in this?"

"He had a dinner appointment with Turner this evening. When Turner didn't show he called the hotel and was informed of the possible issue in Turner's room. He did the in-person identification down in the morgue and Maura is comparing his DNA with what is on file to also confirm."

Jane didn't like this. The District Attorney getting involved in her case was the last thing she wanted. "Has anyone spoken with Hagan?"

"Cavanaugh is handling the initial interview right now," Korsak noticed Jane's surprised reaction. "Hagan called Hamilton. Hamilton called Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh called me. It rolls downhill Jane. And fast."

Jane sighed. "Shit."

Korsak nodded. "Be prepared for the brass to be all over this case. Hagan is on the fast track towards Governor so this will quickly become a high priority case. Apparently he was friends with Turner so he is going to want a very fast resolution."

Jane nodded. That was absolutely the last thing she needed at the moment. A DA turning politician and her Commander In Chief butting into her case. She looked at Korsak and knew she was about to make his night worse too.

"You aren't going to like what I just did then," she said with a resigned tone.

"What now?"

"I just threatened to transfer Barry and Riley out of Homicide if they couldn't get their act together."

Korsak was quiet for a minute. He stared at Jane and took in her resolve as she related that information.

"Were you bluffing?" She couldn't read if he was angry or impressed with that move.

"No," and it was a definitive answer. "You should have seen them at the scene. They were working around each other not with each other. They hadn't secured video or vetted the hotel lobby staff by the time I got there. The thought hadn't even occurred to either of them. Both were too busy trying to prove to the other they could control a crime scene. My guess is that if they had vetted the lobby staff we would have had a warning about Hagan's call to the hotel."

"How long had they been on scene before you got there?" he knew it would have been long enough to have handled the vetting and video but he still wanted to know.

"Thirty minutes," she said with still an annoyed tone.

Korsak shook his head. Jane had done the right thing. That was a major miss. "Alright. So you made the threat. Now what?"

"I asked them to finish at the scene and told them both to go home. I'd like to speak with each of them in the morning but I'd like you to sit in on the conversations. I think they need to understand what is expected of them by not just me and I'd like you in those meetings."

Korsak nodded. "You got it. First thing tomorrow. Jane, with the added attention to this case we don't need those two causing any problems." He was quiet for a minute. "Do you really think it will come to transfers?"

"I hope not. But Vince, I can't have them teamed together acting the way they are acting. I can't say I trust them to be in the field together right now. It's been two months and it is just not getting any better. It may be for their own safety that I make a move. And if I move out one I will move out the other."

Korsak only nodded. They would cross that bridge only if they came to it. "Maura started the autopsy for us once I told her that the vic was a friend of Hagan's. You may want to head down and see what she has so far. Cavanaugh will want an update before he goes home."

It was Jane's turn to nod. She stood up and headed to her desk to grab a file before heading down to the morgue. She was stopped just short of her desk by a familiar but agitated voice.

"What the hell is going on Jane?"

Jane turned around a little surprised at the tone coming from her brother. "Excuse me?"

"Why are you threatening to transfer Riley from Homicide?" and again his tone was filled with anger and accusation.

Jane closed her eyes and sighed. This, too, was the last thing she needed right now. "Wait a minute little brother. Don't use that tone of voice with me," she stood taller and stared directly into his eyes.

"I'm serious Jane. I spoke to Riley. She told me what you did tonight."

"Hold it Frankie. I'm not going to get into this with you," she stepped passed him and approached her desk and grabbed the folder she had come out there for.

"Jane," Frankie started but was immediately cut off by his sister.

"No, don't 'Jane' me little brother. Not only can't I discuss work related issues about Riley with you, I won't. It's not even close to being appropriate for me to speak to you about her if it has anything to do with work. Those matters are confidential and brother or not, I won't discuss this with you."

"Jane, she's freaking out that she is going to get pulled from Homicide," Frankie tried again clearly not listening to what Jane was trying to say.

"Damn it Frankie, listen to me. I get that you are mad. I get that you want answers. I think it's sweet that you care enough about Riley that you want to get involved and fix something for her. But I can't discuss this with you. Period. How would you like it if I went to Harris and started talking about your work performance with him? Would you want him telling me details about your performance or his evaluation of your performance simply because I'm your sister?"

Frankie stopped short of answering because he knew the answer would help Jane's case and not his. Jane sensed he was finally seeing her predicament.

"Frankie, as great as it is to be close with you and Riley outside of work. As nice as Sunday dinner nights are when we all, Korsak, Frost, you, Riley, hell even Sean now, can spend time together and be friends, be like family, there is still a line from a professional standpoint that we shouldn't cross. You are trying to get me to cross it right now and I won't. I respect Riley too much to do that to her. So please. Back off."

Frankie stepped back. He was defeated but didn't want to admit it. Logically, he knew she was right. She really couldn't discuss job performance issues with Riley with him. But he had just spent fifteen minutes on the phone with her listening to her vent and complain about how Jane had threatened to transfer her from Homicide. He knew he was overstepping his boundaries but his growing care for Riley was pushing at him to understand what Jane's issue with her was.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he asked in a defeated tone. His whole body language changed from angry and confrontational to defeated and unsure.

Jane sympathized with him. She just couldn't help him in most ways. "Be there for her when she wants to complain. Listen to her when she vents. And offer your honest opinions when you are asked. That's all you can do really."

Frankie sighed and looked down at his shoes. He lost the argument. It was lost before he even started it. "You heading home?"

Jane shook her head. "No, I'm headed down to the morgue. Maura started an autopsy on the victim from tonight."

"What the deal there? Vince and Sean both got called in after you all left tonight."

"I'm not sure of all the details but it looks like our vic will be a high priority case."

"Fun for you," and he grinned for the first time at her.

"Not really, no. Timing sucks and I don't really need the extra scrutiny right now," she answered and she started heading for the elevators.

She hit the down button and waited for the elevator to open. Once it did, she looked back at her brother. "Good night Frankie."

He let her get on the elevator alone but returned her sentiments before the doors closed. "Good night, Sis."

Jane rubbed her temple with her hands. Between Frost and Cooper, Frankie and now hearing that this case would be high priority the events of the evening were conspiring to give her a headache. She rode the elevator down to the morgue and went to join Maura for the autopsy. Her night couldn't possibly get worse, could it? And again, before the night would officially come to a close, she would have that answer. She just wasn't going to like it.

Meanwhile, after one last read through was complete, an email was sent.

_To: Maura Rizzoli-Isles_

_From: DSanders75_

_Re: Dinner Wednesday_

_Maura- It was great to see you at the conference on Friday. I wish you had been able to sit in on my presentation. But knowing I will get a chance to see you again and maybe even meet your wife made your missing my presentation something I could live with. I will be in Boston by Tuesday and would love to have that dinner with you on Wednesday night. I have made a reservation for three at Menton's on Congress St for 8 PM Wednesday night. I look forward to seeing you and your wife then._

_Devin_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jane walked off the elevator and headed straight for the morgue. She knew that was where Maura would be and she wasn't wrong. She paused at the door and watched her wife work for a moment. The last few hours of her night had been rotten but she was quickly cheered at the sight of Maura working. There was always just something about Maura when she was really entrenched in completing a task that Jane loved to watch. As Jane thought about it she thought it might have to do with the glow Maura got when she was completely in control, in her element and her focus was 100% on the task at hand. It truly was one of the sexiest things Jane would get to witness in her life. As a treat to herself, she let herself linger for a few extra minutes before walking into the morgue.

Maura finished with a task that resembled her attempting to get a measurement on the depth of one of the stab wounds on Turner before she looked up and greeted Jane. "You're back faster than I expected," she said as she was surprised Jane's conversations with Frost and Cooper had gone as quickly as they had.

Jane merely nodded. "How's it going with our Dr. Turner here? I heard Hagan did the in-person identification."

Maura noted that Jane skipped passed giving any details about her conversations with the two detectives. Jane was excellent about protecting the privacy and confidentiality of others and Maura realized she may never really know what Jane did or didn't say to either Barry or Riley. And Maura deeply respected Jane for she sensitivity to that. She watched many other Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains share too much private information just in passing. Jane never seemed to cross that line.

"Yes, DA Hagan was here about an hour ago. He gave a positive identification and I also confirmed that through quick DNA analysis. This is Dr. Paul Turner," and she frowned when she confirmed the ID. Jane caught it immediately.

"Maura? Did you know him too?" she asked suddenly concerned.

Maura stepped away from the table and turned towards Jane. "Not personally no. But I know, or knew, of him. His reputation is stellar and I have read many of his papers over the years. I hadn't had a chance to formally meet him but had been hoping for the chance. It's sad that this is how we were introduced."

Jane approached Maura. "I'm sorry. Korsak told me Hagan knew him and I never even thought to ask if you did. Are you ok to finish this autopsy?"

Maura smiled at Jane's protective instinct for her. She had just said she didn't really know the man and Jane still wanted to make sure she was alright handling the autopsy. She smiled at Jane, "Yes, I am fine. Like I said, I'm very aware of who he was but I did not know him. Tragic way for his life to end."

Jane looked over at the body on the table. "So, have you determined official cause of death? At the scene you said it was possible it was either the head trauma or the stab wounds."

Maura returned to the table. "I'm still waiting for a few tests results but I can say official cause of death was the result of the blunt force head trauma. The stab wounds all appear to be post-mortem."

"Any idea what kind of weapon was used for the head wound? Or the stab wounds for that matter?"

"Not yet. I still have some tests that need to be run and I doubt I'll get the results of anything I run tonight back until tomorrow at the earliest. I will need time to review the X-rays and CT scans from the head injuries before I can start to assess the nature of any possible weapon used. My initial assessment of the stab wounds shows clean cuts suggesting a very sharp instrument. But I'm still measuring all of the wounds to see if the nature of each is consistent with the same type of instrument or if there were multiple instruments used. That's what I was working on when you got here.

"I was able to pull some skin samples from under Turner's fingernails. I've sent those out to run through CODIS so we may get lucky with a DNA hit. And we are processing all of his clothes looking for trace fibers or hairs. But all of that will take some time. I won't have any of those results until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

"Anything else you can tell me tonight? I know you'll have to wait for most of the results until tomorrow but Cavanaugh is going to want an update tonight. Hamilton and Hagan are already all over this case."

Maura was not unsympathetic to Jane's plight but she wouldn't rush the science. Not even for her wife. "I can tell you that I have estimated the time of death as occurring between 3 and 4 am this morning. Most everything else is inconclusive at this point so I'd rather wait for lab results. I'm running toxicology results and I'm in the middle of comparing the stab wounds."

Tine of death information would be very helpful. Especially with the hotel video review. It had been clear to Jane from just the initial inspection of the hotel room that it was the primary crime scene. There were clear signs of a struggle and no lack of blood. Maybe they would get lucky with the lobby, hallway and elevator cameras and see who was leaving that room at 4 am this morning.

"Tine of death actually helps a lot. Thank you. That will give us a good starting place for the surveillance review and interviews with the hotel staff."

"I haven't had a chance to even start the review of his stomach contents but at some point tomorrow I will be able to let you know what his last meal was." Jane cringed. Oddly that was one of Maura's favorite parts of an autopsy. Jane just tried not to concentrate on that. She simply nodded her understanding of what help that may be.

Jane knew Maura had only been at it for a little more than an hour and a half so she wouldn't have a lot of definitive answers. But a positive identification, a time of death, a cause of death as well as skin and DNA from under Turner's fingernails was certainly information she could deliver to Cavanaugh tonight. They may help keep Hamilton at bay for a little while. Maybe she would get lucky and this would be a relatively simple case and a quick closure.

She was about to have that bubble burst. "Jane, there are a few oddities I think you should be made aware of."

This caught Jane's attention immediately. It was rare for Maura to call out 'oddities' before lab results were final. "Such as?"

Maura sighed. She walked over to Jane and had that look on her face like she wasn't sure if whatever it was something that she should even be bringing up yet. "The prostitute that Frost and Cooper are the primaries on, the one Dr. Pike was handling while I was at the conference?"

"Natalie Givens. Yes?"

"Jane, the two cases may be connected."

This completely threw Jane for a loop. She hadn't expected to hear that. How could the murder of a teenage hooker found in an alley in the Back Bay be connected to a doctor found in a high end hotel room on Rowes Wharf? She waited for Maura to fill in the blanks. She felt her headache getting worse.

Maura could tell by the look on Jane's face that she was trying to piece together any possible connection. "I was reviewing the notes from Pike's cases, including Givens, while I was waiting for Hagan. Pike's notes aren't the most detailed I've ever read but from what I read in his notes and from what I have had a chance to examine with Turner there are similarities between the wounds on both victims."

"What kind of similarities?"

"Wound patterns. Particularly the stab wounds. While Turner's cause of death will be listed as blunt force trauma the nature of the stab wounds are initially similar to those of Givens. From what I can gather from Pike's notes, her stab wounds were also inflicted post-mortem. Granted her cause of death was asphyxiation but the manner of the stab wounds from both shows a possible correlation."

Jane was quiet for a minute. "Are you sure both victims' stab wounds were post-mortem?"

"I need to re-examine Givens to get a chance to look at the wounds myself. I've reassigned the case back to myself and I will start that re-examination tomorrow after I finish with Turner. But I'm seeing enough to be concerned there may be a connection. Partly, Jane, it is due to the nature of the stab wounds."

"Nature?"

"Frantic. Scattered and frantic. And complete overkill if you'll pardon the pun. Both victims were already dead when they were stabbed. But someone proceeded to stab Givens twelve times in a scattered pattern. Turner has fifteen post-mortem stab wounds and also scattered in pattern."

Jane found herself nodding as she was letting that information sink in. Two victims within 72 hours of each other, although Pike had yet to specify time of death on Givens, both with post-mortem stab wounds. Even Jane knew that was too coincidental. Post-mortem stabbing was not a common occurrence. There was a good chance the two cases were related. This information did not help her headache. "Ok. I'll let Korsak and Cavanaugh know that there may be multiple victims and we can look at that when you get a chance to re-examine Givens tomorrow." Jane went to start to leave but Maura stopped her.

"Jane, there is one more thing I need to point out." Again, there was hesitation in her voice.

"What else?"

"Devin."

Jane drew a blank. "Who?" She stared back at Maura needing more information than a random first name.

"The old friend from Friday. Dr. Devin Sanders."

That helped. Jane quickly got caught up. Maura's ex graduate assistant from San Francisco. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"I'm not sure if he has anything to do with this. But you know I don't believe in coincidences. Devin is suddenly in the area. He lies to me about still being at UCSF. He lies about delivering a research paper both at Friday's conference in Hartford and about upcoming lectures at Harvard and Johns Hopkins."

"I remember all of that now. But Maura how is that related to either of these two cases?"

"Dr. Paul Turner is the leading expert in the field of Virtual Autopsies and Medical Imagining for purposes of exploring the nature and cause of death."

"Ok…"

"That is the exact topic Devin told me his research paper was written about. A paper I can't find anywhere. A paper that isn't being presented at Harvard or Johns Hopkins like he claimed. I don't believe in coincidences. And I am having a hard time not wondering if Devin had something to do with Turner."

Jane fully caught up to Maura now. She didn't believe in coincidences either. Her headache just got exponentially worse. If Maura was right about her concerns, her wife may have already had coffee with a possible murder suspect and if Jane was remembering correctly the three of them might have dinner plans together for Wednesday night.

"Alright Maura, you need to tell me everything you know or remember about Devin Sanders," and she made no effort to hide the concern in her tone.

Time really was cruel. The moments you don't want to remember or relive always seem to come back faster and with more detail than all the happy times of your life. Time never seems to be a chief factor in a person's ability to recall a painful memory. Minutes, hours, days, months, years. That never seemed to matter when full recall kicked in. Not for bad memories. But for moments of joy. Happy memories. Those were the ones that seemed to be impacted by time. Minutes, hours, days, months years. For a happy memory the further down that time scale you found yourself the more likely the details and recollections would be sketchy, fuzzy or lacking in substance. Time was really cruel that way.

An hour later, Jane went to go find Cavanaugh to give him an initial update. He was still in the station and she found him in his office. She leaned up against the doorframe and looked at him. "Captain, you shouldn't still be here on a Sunday night."

He looked up at her and smiled. "You would think I could avoid that but clearly not so much. Come in," and he motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "So, where do we stand?"

Jane gave him what she knew. She recapped the time of death, cause of death and that Maura was able to retrieve some skin samples that were being sent through CODIS. She explained about what labs and reports Maura wouldn't see until at least tomorrow. Cavanaugh was happy with the progress that had occurred in just a few hours. He was hopeful that relaying where they stood should keep Hamilton happy and out of their way at least initially. But then he sensed there was something bothering Jane.

"Korsak told me about your concerns about Barry and Riley. He also mentioned you put them both on notice. Jane, I don't want to lose two Homicide detectives but both Vince and I will support whatever you think is the right thing to do. We both trust your instincts about those two. If you don't feel it is going to work out between them we will handle that the best we can."

"Thank you Sir. Your, and Korsak's, support means a lot. I don't want to lose either one of them from the team so I'm hoping we don't get to that point."

Jane made no effort to get up to leave and Cavanaugh quickly understood that it wasn't Frost and Cooper that was troubling Jane. "Is there something else Jane?"

"Yes Sir, there is. I'm not sure you have been briefed on the Natalie Givens' case as of yet."

"The teenage hooker from the Back Bay? I'm vaguely aware."

"Yes Sir. I was just talking with Maura and well, Sir, there is a chance that the Givens case may be linked to the Turner case. Maura's read through Dr. Pike's report on Givens and has found some similarities between the wounds for both that may not be coincidental. Pike's notes are less than adequate for Maura to make a final determination but she is convinced enough to reassign the Givens case to herself and she will be doing a re-examination tomorrow after she finishes with Turner."

"So we may have multiple victims here?"

"Yes Sir. That appears to be a possibility. Maura tends not to be wrong when she sees a connection between events. She wants to see Givens herself before she completely commits to linking the two but five will get you ten says the cases are connected."

Cavanaugh nodded. "Have Frost and Cooper made any progress on Givens?"

"Not really. We had been waiting for Pike's reports. It took almost a day to even positively ID her. They did get two other girls to talk but neither knew who Givens' last John was. We did get some detail on where she spent her time in between tricks but that follow up was going to happen tomorrow."

"Alright. Run the MO through ViCAP. Let's see if there are any more cases with similarities. I hear you are speaking with Frost and Cooper with Korsak in the morning. Take care of that and then Jane I want you to take over both the Givens and Turner cases as the primary. I can't have Frost as primary if his head isn't completely in the game. So I want you running point. Keep Korsak in the loop about any connections and let me know as soon as Dr. Isles, sorry, Rizzoli-Isles, gets any information on the DNA from under Turner's fingernails."

"Don't worry about the hyphenated last name Captain. I still forget to say it for mine sometimes too," and she smiled for the first time a few hours. "And I'll take care of everything else." She got up and headed out.

She felt bad about not telling Cavanaugh that there may be a suspect in Turner's case but she didn't want to throw that out there without doing a little more research on her own about Dr. Devin Sanders.

Maura had yet to check her email and would not see Devin's email to her until Monday morning.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jane lay staring up at the ceiling. No matter what she tried she couldn't fall asleep. Her body was tired but her mind was racing. Too much was going on and she couldn't stop any of it. Her mind drifted from one topic to another with half thoughts, half ideas. Nothing ever getting settled. Nothing ever leaving her mind. All of it coming at her like a choreographed attack with the goal of preventing her a minute's rest. Her brain was winning that night.

Somewhere during the night she started rubbing the scar on her left hand. It was always her left hand when she rubbed. Never the right. Which was odd since there was a matching scar on the right hand. Maybe it was because she was a left handed person and her left hand was her dominate hand. Maybe. But that really didn't matter. Any time she was really bothered by something, she ended up rubbing the scar on her left hand. Tonight was no different. The scar was getting worked over pretty thoroughly.

At one point Maura attempted an intervention. She had been asleep. Jane could tell by her breathing pattern but at some point Jane was so deep in thought she missed that Maura had woken up. It must have been the scar rubbing. Maura hadn't spoken, never said a word. But suddenly she reached over and grabbed Jane's left arm and hand and pulled it across Jane's body and draped it across her own. Physical separation of one hand from the other was Maura's attempt at a silent intervention. It stopped the rhythmic scar rubbing. It just didn't stop Jane's head. But it did pull Maura closer into her so she could at least take some comfort in that.

Twenty minutes after Maura's silent attempt to intervene into Jane's head she finally spoke. "What's wrong?" Her voice tender, calm and quiet but filled with concern.

"Go back to sleep," was Jane's equally tender response. Maura was still curled into Jane and Jane pulled her in closer to hold her tighter.

"Your head's making too much noise," it sounded like a ridiculous statement but Jane knew exactly what Maura meant.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and placed a series of kisses onto Maura's exposed neck. That elicited a soft moan from Maura who immediately nestled into Jane closer.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maura made the offer in a half asleep whisper.

Jane loved her for even asking. How had she managed to have such a beauty, such a wonderful person, in her life? Not only as a friend but as her best friend. Not only as her best friend but as her lover. And not only as her lover but as her wife. How had that happened? Jane sometimes doubted she would ever understand what force in the heavens was ever truly responsible for bring Maura into her life but she never doubted that it would be a debt she could never possibly repay.

She didn't, however, want to talk about it. "Go back to sleep," she whispered again. And again she placed a tender series of kisses onto Maura's neck but finished this time sucking on her earlobe. This got Maura going a bit and a grin came across her lips. She started to stroke her fingers up and down Jane's arm.

"I won't be able to fall back asleep if you continue to do that," she breathed quietly.

"So, maybe don't go back to sleep," Jane whispered with a smile.

Maura shifted and turned into Jane letting her eyes locked onto those of her wife. She brushed the back of her hand against Jane's cheek. She leaned into Jane and met Jane's lips with her own. In between several tender kisses she managed to get out, "I can think of at least one way to quiet that head of yours."

Jane certainly didn't object to the distraction. Not one like this. And for the next hour the magic that was Maura definitely silenced Jane's thoughts. And Maura even managed to exhaust Jane enough that she fell asleep for a few blissful hours.

Time. Of all the things wrestling around in Jane's head for attention, time was the one that seemed to win out over all of the others. It was still this notion, this concept she had been struggling to understand better. It kept creeping into her thoughts and at times she was getting concerned that it was turning into an obsession. One really could become obsessed with the notion of time. But falling victim to that could drive a person crazy. That morning Jane's thoughts on time drifted towards wondering if she had been crazy. She was close to admitting that she was becoming obsessed.

They drove to the station separately that morning. Since Cavanaugh had asked Jane to take over as primary on the now most likely related homicides of Turner and Givens she would have to increase her presence in the field and didn't want to trap Maura at the station without a way home. She had a full morning scheduled and it would start with meetings with Barry and Riley. Maura was going to finish up on Turner and then start the re-examination of Givens. She also expected most of the test results she sent out yesterday to be ready by mid-afternoon. Both, in fact, would have a busy day ahead of them.

Jane made her way to the bullpen and was at least glad to see both Frost and Cooper were already there and working. And they both looked like neither got much sleep last night. Jane couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction at that that swept through her. They both should be worried right now. She greeted them both of a good morning.

Both Frost and Cooper looked at her and nodded. Neither seemed willing to start up a conversation without getting a better feel for Jane's overall mood. Jane's current mood was one of impatience and she wasn't going to drag out either conversation any further. They had too many other things to be doing today so she needed to handle each conversation.

"There have been several significant developments in the Turner case since last night. I will cover those with the both of you later. First things first. I need to speak to each of you. Riley, ladies first." Jane turned without offering much else and headed for Korsak's office. She had expected Riley to follow her and Riley had. Korsak was also already in his office, waiting to be joined by Jane and the two detectives.

It may have been Korsak's office but it was Jane's show. Jane's conversation. Jane had already warned Korsak that she didn't need him to do much, if anything, during either conversation. She took a seat and pointed to the other empty chair for Riley to have a seat. And she started.

"Riley, I think we can all agree that we have a problem. First thing I want to know is if you even want to be partners with Barry."

Riley looked at Jane and must not have been expecting to have to start speaking so soon. She had been expecting a lecture and to be yelled at, not a question right off the bat. She felt bad that she stuttered the first part of the answer. "I…I have nothing against Barry. He is a good cop."

"That's not really the issue here, unless you believe that he isn't a good enough cop to be your partner, and that's not what I asked. I asked if you wanted to be his partner. So, I'll ask again, do you want to have Barry Frost as a partner?"

Without having to think further she answered a simple question with a simple answer. "Yes."

Jane nodded. "Ok, well that's half the battle. I don't think I can fix the situation if you didn't want to be partnered with him. Now, knowing that you do in fact want him as your partner, I need to ask a few personal questions. And, I'm sorry I even have to be asking, but you both have backed all of us into a corner here and I'm trying to find a way out."

Riley nodded her understanding. She knew that there was an issue with the current state of her partnership with Barry. She understood where all the questions were coming from and figured that she would be asked a few personal questions because of her past with Barry.

"Riley, is the problem between you and Barry related to your dating history?"

She shook her head. "No. We have talked about that. We both are good on that part. He knows I'm happy with your brother. He knew I was seeing Frankie too from the beginning and he understood it just seemed to click better with Frankie than with him. Truthfully, he pointed that out to me before I could really see it myself. We parted on good terms. Frankie and Frost are best friends. Outside of work we are fine."

"So, why is there an issue between you two at work?" It seemed like a simple question.

Riley was quiet for a minute. She wasn't sure exactly how to answer that question. It was THE question. She had an opinion, she thought she knew what it was but she wasn't sure she should be saying it. But, the reality was that if things didn't change between her and Frost, she was going to lose what she had worked so hard to achieve. She would be moved out of Homicide and that's not what she wanted. So, she bit the bullet and decided to see where honesty took her.

"It's because I'm not you." Ask a simple question get a simple answer. But nothing is ever that simple.

Jane looked at Riley. And then wasn't sure how to respond. "I guess I don't completely follow you on that."

"Sergeant Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles. You are a legend. And absolutely impossible to replace. I can't fill your shoes. With Barry, I'm just not you. I think he resents the fact that he lost you as a partner and although we like each other I disappoint him daily because I'm just not you."

"Has he ever said that to you?"

"No, but I see it in his eyes. Every time he looks over at me I feel as if he gets that reminder that it used to be you at a crime scene with him. But he's stuck with me now and I've tried to be like you. Tried to think like you. Tried to approach things like you. But that just seems to make things worse."

"Riley, no one expects you to be me. Especially me. You need to be yourself. It's not about replacing me. It's about moving forward. What I want, what I need, is for you and Barry to move forward together. As partners. I'm not looking to turn you into some version of me and I don't want you to think that you have to change who you are to be in this department.

"I've read through your file. You are a very accomplished detective. Everything you have gotten so far in life you have earned. Your instincts are good and you are a good judge of people and situations. Maybe, just maybe, you need to remember that. If you have been trying to be more like me I think you are doing yourself a disservice and you are turning away from what got you into this department in the first place.

"I appreciate that you think enough of me to think you have to be like me, but you are wrong. And I have a feeling that may be a big part of what is wrong here. When you don't react to a situation naturally, like you would, because you are trying to react based on how I would, my guess is that your reactions now are delayed because you are thinking first instead of reacting first. You should know by now that as a cop it's react first, think later. You have an entire career of experiences that you should be drawing on to help guide your natural reactions. If you are trying to be like me you have yet to show Barry who you are. He's not seeing your natural instincts, reactions and thoughts. Personally, if I thought my partner was holding back or taking too long to react in a situation I would have issues with that too."

Riley was thrown a little by the conversation. Again, she had walked into the room thinking she was going to get yelled at by both Jane and Lieutenant Korsak. Instead, it was clear that Sergeant Rizzoli-Isles was trying to figure out what was wrong with her current partnership. And she was telling her to be herself. Maybe she was right. She was thinking too much. Trying to come at cases and situations like she thought Jane would do was slowing her down and making her doubt herself.

"I can see where that may be an issue. I have been slow to react in situations. I guess I'm not helping his adjustment if he believes I'm slow to react. I just thought we would work together better if he thought I could be somewhat like you."

"I think you two can be great partners if you are who you really are. I was as surprised as everyone when the changes happened but I was never concerned about whether you and Barry should be partnered. In fact, I had recommended the partnering to Lieutenant Korsak because I thought you two would complement each other. I still believe you both can work together. I just haven't seen it yet. So here's the deal. You and he will have until we close these cases to work this out. If by the time we have closed out these current cases I haven't seen an actual partnership form between the two of you, I will be recommended to Lieutenant Korsak that you both be transferred out of Homicide and reassigned to other divisions. I have both Korsak's and Captain Cavanaugh support for this.

"You have some time to show me you can correct this. You owe it to yourself and to Barry to be yourself. Stop trying to think you have to be like me and start trusting in who you are. You got here for a reason. I think you have everything it takes to be a great Homicide detective. But you have to start showing Barry, me and mostly yourself how you would handle situations and the cases. I think it's enough to fix your partnership but it's really going to be up to you to commit to changing. And in this case I'm going to ask you to change back to who you are. Any questions?"

Riley shook her head. "None. I hear you." She didn't want to offer up anything more. This was more than she thought she would be given. This conversation really hadn't gone as she had seen it in her head. She got up to leave and was turned around by Jane's voice.

"Riley, one last thing. I'm glad you are with Frankie. And I'm glad you can confide in him and that you share things with him. Just understand and know that I will never, ever discuss work performance issues with him when it comes to you. I don't want you to ever think I would cross that line."

Stunned even at that, Riley muttered, "Thank you," and left Korsak's office. None of that had been expected. She took a seat at her desk and signaled that it was Frost's turn in the office. He seemed surprised by the look on Riley's face as she had approached her desk. He didn't know how to interpret it and so he walked towards Korsak's office with no clue on what was about to happen.

He entered the office and Jane motioned for him to have a seat. One down one to go. "Barry, I'm going to start with the same question I started with Riley. Do you want Riley as a partner?"

Frost was surprised Jane went straight to the point. "Truthfully, I'd prefer to still have you as my partner."

"I appreciate that but as it stands that isn't an option going forward. So, considering that the magic solution here isn't that we suddenly are partners again, do you want Riley to be your partner?"

This time he hesitated. He now wasn't sure he knew how to answer that question. Once he had gotten over his initial shock of losing Jane as a partner he had been happy that he was going to have Riley as a partner. He liked her. They got along well outside of work and he had heard from other detectives all about Riley's time in Narc and Vice. What he was told lead him to believe that she was more than capable of doing the job. But how she acted once they were partnered wasn't anything like who he had been told she was. She was pensive. She was slow to react. She seemed to doubt herself. And that made Frost not trust her.

"Jane, here's the thing. I admit I was bitter when we first were split up. I probably always will be a little bitter about that but you earned the promotion. You earned it a hundred times over. I thought I'd be fine with Riley as a partner but she's not like I expected her to be. I asked around. Narc and Vice all spoke highly of her. Everyone told me she was good. Good instincts. Reads people and situations well. A natural. But when we are in the field, that's not the Riley Cooper I have as a partner. The Riley Cooper I have as a partner is missing self-confidence. She is slow. She thinks too much and she doesn't seem to react on instinct.

"Jane, I just don't trust her as a partner. I think I got a little spoiled with you. With you, I knew no matter what you had my back. I knew you would take a bullet for me but I always knew you wouldn't knowingly put me in a situation in which I might have to take a bullet for you. I never had to wonder about you. Wonder if you would read a situation right, react quickly enough. With Riley, she seems so unsure of how to react that I just can't trust she has my back."

Jane and Korsak both nodded their heads. They understood what he was saying. There had to be trust in order for a partnership to work. "Frost, what if I told you that Riley may have gotten caught up in trying to be and act like me and that was why she seems different from what you were told about how she is in the field?"

He thought for a second. "That would make a little more sense than her fooling so many other cops."

"Have you completely dismissed her yet or is there a chance, if she can be who I think we both thought she would be, that you can still manage to be her partner?"

"I would have no problem with her as my partner if I felt like I could trust her. If she can show me that she has my back and that she does have the natural cop instincts that I was told she had I can make it work between us."

Jane nodded, "Look, I am giving you two until we close these cases to straighten this out. She knows what she needs to change to help that along. But you aren't completely innocent in this either. You have to let go of any notion that she needs to be like me. She isn't me but that doesn't mean she won't be a good partner for you. She owes you being herself and I will give her one last chance to show you what that person is capable of. But, please make sure you aren't judging her against me. That's not fair to her."

He was about to protest that he wasn't doing that but stopped. He knew he was. He couldn't help it. It was hard not compare what he had to what had replaced it.

"If she is willing to get better I will work on not trying to judge her too quickly." That was the best he could do.

"Alright. You both have until we close these cases to show me you can make it work. Barry, if you two can't, I will move you both out of Homicide. And I have Korsak and Cavanaugh's support on that. It's the last thing I want to have to do but I will if you two can't make this work."

Barry nodded. He understood. Only time would tell. And he knew that they didn't have a lot of it. He got up and went out to his desk.

Jane turned to Korsak. "So, what do you think?"

"I think if she can be who we all thought she would be when Cavanaugh moved her over here and he stops comparing her to you, I think they have a chance."

"I hope you are right. Hell, I hope I'm doing the right thing here."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Having handled the conversations with Riley and Barry, Jane turned her attention to the two cases at hand. She needed to get both detectives in the loop as to the developments and she needed Frost's help in furthering her investigation into Devin Sanders. She made her way back to the bullpen and pulled a chair up in between Frost and Cooper.

"Ok, so there were some developments last night about the Boston Harbor Hotel case. We have a lot of things to work on today and this case is now considered High Priority. Barry, I've been asked to take point here. Sorry. Cavanaugh's request."

"What's with the High Priority status?" asked Riley.

"Turns out our victim has been positively identified as Dr. Paul Turner. And he gets High Priority status because he was a friend of DA Patrick Hagan."

"You mean Governor Hagan," Frost said without hiding his sarcasm.

"More than likely yes he will be Governor in November. So we will have extra scrutiny on this case. Hence Cavanaugh requesting that I take point. Hagan's already ID'd the body and Maura confirmed last night it is Turner. Hamilton is involved in this case now too. So we can't screw any of this up."

"What did Dr. Rizzoli-Isles learn last night from the initial autopsy?" asked Cooper.

"Several things. First, time of death was Sunday morning between 3-4 am. So, we need to review the hotel video footage for the lobby, hallways and elevator footage in that time span to see if we can see anyone coming to or leaving Turner's room. Also, we need to speak with the hotel staff that was on duty during that time frame to see if anyone saw anything. Our suspect had to leave the hotel at some point so maybe someone will remember seeing someone leave.

"Second, cause of death is the blunt force head wound. Maura doesn't know a weapon yet and will be working on wound patterns with the head injury today. But it was the head injury that killed him. Which leads to the third thing. The stab wounds on Turner were inflicted post-mortem. There were fifteen of them. Guys, this is personal. Someone stabbed Turner fifteen times after he was already dead. Maura called the pattern scattered, frantic. I would call it a possible fit of rage.

"Fourth, Maura was able to recover some skin tissue under Turner's fingernails. We are waiting to get a hit from CODIS and may hopefully have a DNA identification of a possible suspect. Looks like he put up at least a little bit of a fight before he was killed. I'm hoping to have an identification of the skin DNA by the end of the day.

"Fifth, Maura thinks there is a link between Turner and Natalie Givens. She was reviewing Pike's notes last night and thinks the stab wounds on Givens match the nature of the stab wounds on Turner. Givens died of asphyxiation but she was also stabbed twelve times and those stab wounds were also post-mortem. That's why Maura thinks there could be a link. She is going to re-examine Givens later today and see what Pike missed. We all know he will have missed something.

"Lastly, there is also a chance that Maura knows our possible suspect. At least for the Turner murder. Now, this isn't for common knowledge. I have not told Cavanaugh this yet. Nor Korsak. Not yet. But Turner is a doctor that specializes in medical imaging and Maura had an encounter with an old friend who is in town that seems off and could tie him to Turner. I want to investigate that possibility further before I tell anyone else. Maura's not certain but what we know looks bad."

Frost and Cooper just looked at each other. "Damn Jane, all of this happened last night?" Frost was surprised how quickly things had developed.

"Yes. Maura pieced together the possible tie between Givens and Turner which could be confirmed later this afternoon. I think she just needs to examine Givens herself to conclude the connection. In the meantime, we need to move on reviewing hotel footage and speaking with the hotel staff now that we know time of death. And I need to investigate Maura's friend. I have a bad feeling about his role in all of this. But I'm not going to discuss a suspect with Cavanaugh without more to go on."

Frost and Cooper nodded. "Jane, if you have a name for Maura's friend I can run him and see what I can find. That will be a good place to start," Frost offered.

"I agree. Maura already started some initial research. Turns out most of what he told her on Friday when they ran into each other at the medical conference was a lie. He claimed to be a tenured professor at UCSF at the conference to deliver a paper on Virtual Autopsies but none of that is true. He also lied to her when he said he had speaking engagement here at Harvard and at Johns Hopkins. Neither has heard of him and he isn't set to do any lectures."

As she was explaining this to both detectives her phone vibrated an incoming email message. When she finished her last sentence she looked down at her phone. She was surprised the email had been from Maura. Maura normally sent her text messages. It took Jane a second to realize that Maura had forwarded an email for her to look at.

_The charade continues. I don't understand this. Should I reply?_

Jane read the body of the email Maura had received from Devin. She couldn't believe it either. It sounded so normal. So casual. But Jane knew none of it except maybe the dinner reservations was true. It all was a tab bit creepy. She typed a reply.

_Don't tip him off that you suspect anything. Reply back that we will see him Wednesday night. I'll be down to see you soon._

She looked up at Frost and Cooper. "Ok, Maura just got a confirmation from our possible suspect that we are supposed to meet him for dinner on Wednesday. I asked Maura to reply that we will be there and to not tip him off that there is anything wrong. I need to know everything there is to know about this guy before Wednesday."

Jane, Barry and Riley decided on a plan of action for the first part of the morning. Barry and Riley would go speak to the hotel staff and review the video footage from the hotel for the estimate time of death time frame. Frost inputted Devin's information into several queries that would run while they did the follow-up at the hotel and Jane would stay at the station and go through Maura's information as it became available as well as observe the re-examination of Givens. Frost and Cooper would return to the station after finishing the follow-up at the hotel.

Jane stopped to give Korsak a quick update before heading down to the morgue. "Vince, we may have a possible suspect. I don't want to tell Cavanaugh until I have a little more to go on but I'm hoping we may be able to piece a few things together by mid-afternoon. Mostly we are just waiting for some reports to start coming in."

"Who's the suspect?"

"Believe it or not, a former student of Maura's from San Francisco. Like I said, we aren't completely sure yet but there are some things that don't add up and he may become our primary suspect here. I'll keep you posted."

Jane rode the elevator down to the morgue. Maura was just starting to examine Givens when Jane arrived. "Frost and Cooper are headed out to do the follow-up at the hotel with the staff and video review. Frost entered Devin's information and we are running queries to get some background on him. How's it going here?"

"I'm just getting started here. About half the reports we are waiting for should be ready in about two hours." Maura paused and looked up at Jane. "And I can't believe he sent me an email like everything is fine. It's a little disconcerting."

"I agree with you. I would say that there is something really not right with him if he actually believes that he is telling you the truth. It will be interesting to see what we turn up on Devin Sanders after Frost's queries run."

Jane watched Maura re-do Givens' autopsy. Maura made a few notes and Jane could tell by the look on her face the times she found things that Pike had clearly missed. After an hour she was finished. Jane had been pretty quiet while she watched Maura work. She was stuck in waiting mode for reports or Frost and Cooper to return.

"Jane based on my initial exam I can state that the stab wounds on Givens match the pattern of the stab wounds on Turner. The pattern, depth and edges of the wounds on both are consistent with not only the same person being responsible but both were inflicted by the same type of instrument."

"So we are looking for one killer for these two cases not two separate killers?"

"In my medical opinion, yes." That was good enough for Jane. It always had been.

"Ok. I need to speak with Korsak. Can you bring up the lab reports when you get them?"

"As soon as I have anything I'll bring it up to you."

"Thanks," and Jane headed back up to speak with Korsak.

Frost and Cooper were finishing up at the hotel. They had made some good progress. Frost was able to find video of a male walking through the lobby at 3:57 am on Sunday. He was exiting with some haste. Using that time marker he was able to track the male throughout the hotel. The male entered the hotel at 2:50 am and headed straight to the elevators. He hit the "8" button on the elevators and got off on the 8th floor and walked down the hallway where Turner's room was located.

Based on cameras it was hard to determine exactly which room he had knocked on but at 2:56 am the male knocked on a door and allowed entry to a room on the 8th floor. At 3:51 am he exited the room he entered and quickly walked down the hallway. He took the stairs this time and stairway cameras show him winding his way down to the lobby where he exits at 3:57 am. There is enough good footage to make a positive identification if a suspect is identified.

Cooper spoke with the hotel staff on duty but that wasn't as helpful. No one could remember much of anything and no one claimed to see a male walking through the lobby at either 2:50 am or 3:57 am. In fairness to the staff, Frost video review didn't show any indications that anyone had seen the male in question. Frost copied the video and requested that the hotel copy or hold all the surveillance for the entire week leading up to the murder. A copy would be made of everything and sent to the station.

As Frost and Cooper were leaving the hotel Riley had grown quiet. She hadn't been overly chatty during the first two months they had been partners but she was quieter than she normally was. Quiet enough for Frost to ask about it.

"You are awfully quiet? What are you thinking?"

Riley decided after her talk with Jane and Korsak that she did need to go back to being herself. To look at things not from what she thought would have been Jane's perspective but from her own. So she was replaying her recent conversations through her mind, especially the interviews her and Frost had done with the prostitutes Rondo had recommended they speak to on Friday. Her mind kept drifting back to one of the girls and something she had said.

"I was just replaying the interviews we did on Friday through my head. I think I missed something on Friday with one of the girls. I think we need to go back and speak with Valerie again."

He looked at her and waited for more details. She didn't offer any. "What do you think you missed?"

"I'm not sure. It's just a gut feeling really. But the more I think about how that conversation went the more I think I missed out on asking her the right question. I think maybe she saw Natalie's killer. I was so wrapped up in asking about her tricks I didn't ask about any men that weren't Johns. We were assuming Natalie was killed during a trick gone bad. What if that wasn't the case?"

Frost thought for a second. She could be right. "Ok. Let's go talk with Valerie again." He made a lane change and they headed not back to the station but back towards the Back Bay in search of another teenage prostitute.

Time. So much can change so quickly. Events, changes in circumstances, important decisions, life changes all can happen in a split second. Decisions made or not made. Actions taken or not taken. All with the power to determine the direction someone's life would go from that second forward. A second. Sounds quick. Sounds fast. But, under the right set of circumstances, a second can last forever. Under the right circumstances.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The hardest promises to keep are the ones leveraged with time. Promises that get linked to concepts like forever, always or never have that an inescapable tie with time. A person can't speak in terms of forever, always or never without getting pulled into the clutches of time. And time seems unwilling to help those who foolishly try to tie a promise to such notions. You can't argue with time. You can't plead your case. It's a one sided affair. Time takes and shapes itself at will. Just not yours. And usually time does the opposite of what you need it to be doing for you. Simply because it can.

Jane stopped at the Café to get coffee for herself and Vince. Angela was working and chatting with two detectives from Robbery when Jane walked in. She nodded at Jane and finished with the two detectives but Jane knew she ended the conversation just a little faster so she could come say hi to her daughter.

"Hi Ma," Jane greeted.

"Hi Janie," she greeted back. "Coffee?"

"Please," she said with extra pleading. "And a cup for Vince too please."

Jane stepped off to the side. She didn't have time to sit at a table to chat with Angela but she had a few minutes she could spend with her. She had felt bad for getting called away last night and leaving the dinner clean up all for Angela.

Angela carried over Jane and Korsak's coffees. "Ma, sorry about dinner last night. I didn't mean for Maura and I to leave you with the cleanup."

"Janie, don't worry about that. You girls can't control when you get called into work. I've learned that over the years. Besides, I made Tommy do most of it."

That made Jane smile. "Good. Did you like Stacey?"

That brought an instant smile to Angela's face. "She's such a sweet girl. You said she was nice but I think you undersold it a bit. And she seems like she really likes Tommy. I don't think it's crazy to be thinking about those two getting married."

"Ma, why do you always go straight to marriage? Every time," as Jane shook her head in mild disbelief.

"Janie, marriage is just a natural progression of a relationship. You meet. You date. If you fall in love, you marry. Marriage brings children and families. I can't help that is what I want for all three of you. I want you three to have your own families and family starts with marriage."

"Marriage is for when two people are ready Ma. Don't go chasing off Stacey with marriage talk. I don't think Tommy is ready for marriage just yet."

"Maybe not, but a mother can dream. Just like a mother can dream of grandchildren," and she gave Jane her best mother stare as she said it.

Thinking back on the conversation, Jane really had no one but herself to blame. She walked right into the Angela Rizzoli grandchildren trap. If she hadn't had so much going on that day she would have seen it coming a mile away. Angela was not the most subtle person in the world and usually telegraphed the pitches before she threw them. But Jane was a little distracted and she missed all the warning signs.

"Ma," Jane sighed. She actually couldn't be too hard on Angela. All things considered Angela had been pretty good about leaving Maura and Jane alone on the topic of children. In fact, since the one time it almost caused a fight, Angela hadn't mentioned grandkids around Jane and Maura in months. She was going to mildly chastise her for bringing up the topic now but she didn't. Instead, she had a question. "Ma, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

She paused for a second. She was struggling with the best way to phrase her question. "Ma, have you ever made a promise that you just couldn't keep no matter how hard you tried?"

Angela was surprised by the question. It seemed to come from out of nowhere. She was expecting a question on respecting boundaries, or privacy, or why she would bring grandkids up considering what happened the last time. She wasn't ready for a question about promises. She wasn't even sure what Jane was really trying to ask. She had to think about what Jane had asked. After a moment she answered, "I'm having a hard time thinking of a time. I can only think of one at the moment. I vowed to stay married to your father and we didn't keep that promise."

"Ma," Jane said with sympathy. "What happened with Pop wasn't your fault." Now she felt bad for asking the question the way she did. "I meant…not your marriage…have you ever…" she was struggling with trying to figure out how to ask what she wanted to know.

"Jane what are you trying to ask?" Angela was surprised. Jane rarely was at a loss for words but seemed unable to piece together the thought she was trying to convey.

"Have you ever made a deal, a promise," and before she could try to finish the thought her phone rang. Answering, "Rizzoli-Isles."

Angela watched the expression on her daughter's face change and she knew there was a problem. Jane didn't say much but it looked like she stopped breathing.

"I'm on my way." She hung up and looked up. "Sorry, I have to go." She stood up and was dialing a number without looking back at her mother. The last thing Angela heard Jane say before she ducked into the elevator for the parking garage was Korsak's name. Angela stood wondering. Wondering what the call was and if anyone was hurt. Wondering what Jane had tried to ask her about and why she couldn't seem to just come out and ask. Angela hated wondering. But sometimes, she hated knowing more.

Jane filled in Korsak and he arranged for the crime scene to be handled. That freed up Jane to head straight to the hospital. She went there lights and siren. She pulled up to the front of the emergency room at Mass General and she ran into building. She reached the desk and the nurse looked up.

"Detectives Frost and Cooper where are they?" Jane asked as she flashed her badge.

The nurse looked at some papers but before she could answer Jane heard her name. "Jane!"

She turned and walked up to Frost. "Are you ok?"

"Just a few scratches. I'm fine." And he tried to dismiss Jane's concerns.

Jane did a quick visual inspection of Frost. All she could see was several lacerations on his forehead and his wrist was wrapped in an Ace bandage. She had a feeling he had other injuries but she couldn't see anything else. "Riley?"

"She took a bullet to her upper arm but the doctor thinks she'll be fine. It was a through and through so she won't need surgery unless the MRI shows any muscle damage but the doctor thinks it is a flesh wound. Come on, her room is this way."

"What the hell happened?"

"We finished at the hotel. Jane we have good footage of our suspect coming and going yesterday morning. Maura should be able to look at the footage and confirm if it is Devin Sanders. We have several very clean face shots."

Jane, a bit impatient, "Frost, get to what happened in the warehouse."

"Right, we were heading back to the station and Riley starting thinking about those initial interviews we did on Friday from that list Rondo gave us of some girls who might talk about Givens. I think since we are now wondering if Givens and Turner are connected Riley was trying to re-think the case. She told me she thought we needed to speak with a girl, Valerie, again. That she had said something to Riley on Friday and she didn't catch the meaning. Said it had to do with not thinking about men Givens interacted with who were Johns but a guy that may not have been a trick. So we went to go look for Valerie again.

"We checked the flat where we found her on Friday but she wasn't there. We asked around and finally one of Valerie's friends, after figuring out we weren't Vice, told us where we could most likely find her. It was an abandoned warehouse on Commonwealth Ave. Jane, right away Riley knew something was off. She had her gun drawn before we even got to the first door.

"She told me to pull mine. Said something felt off. We entered the building and did a perimeter sweep of the first floor and found evidence of vagrants but nothing else. We moved to the second floor and that's when we saw the body. I re-holstered my gun and went to check on the body and well, the rest happened really fast. I heard Riley shout my name to look out. I turned and barely moved enough for a two by four to miss my head and hit me on my wrist," he had flashed the now bandaged wrist to Jane.

"The impact from the two by four threw me off balance. While I was regaining balance Riley engaged with the male suspect. She got off one round but neither of us is sure if she wounded him and she got the arm wound. The male suspect took off running. Units are still canvasing the neighborhood but he hasn't been found. Jane, it was the same guy from the hotel footage."

"And the body?"

Frost was quiet for a minute. "Valerie Higgins." By his tone Jane knew that she was dead.

They had arrived at Cooper's room. Jane knocked on the door and heard Cooper shout for Frost to just come in. "If I'm not Frost can I come in anyway?" Jane asked.

"Of course. Sorry. I didn't know you were on your way here already."

"Are you ok?"

Riley was sitting up on the side of the bed. The pillow showed no signs of having been used yet and Jane was guessing that Riley was refusing to lay down on the bed. Her feet were dangling from the side of the bed and she looked like Jane always looked like when she was in the hospital. Like she couldn't get out of the building fast enough.

"I'm fine. It was a through and through and it only grazed me. I'll be a little sore but otherwise I'm good. I'm ready to get out of here. Frost, I thought you were going to go corner the doctor for me so I can get signed out."

"Hold on a minute. You're not going anywhere until I'm sure you are ok. So just relax a minute," Jane gave her a look that ensured Riley knew she wasn't kidding. She suddenly wondered if this was what Maura had to put up with when she had been injured on the job. Riley seemed to listen to her and Jane knew that if it was her she wouldn't have listened. So, she felt lucky Riley was at least a bit more cooperative. She needed to remember to apologize to Maura, and probably her mother, for her post injury behavior.

"So what happened?"

"Frost and I had finished at the hotel and were heading back to the station with video for Dr. Rizzoli-Isles to look at. Because we are now investigating the Givens and Turner murders as being related I was going through the interviews of the prostitutes we talked to on Friday. I realized that I may have been too narrow with my line of questioning and I remembered that one of the girls, Valerie Higgins, had mentioned something about a doctor check-up from earlier in the week and she and Natalie had gone to but I missed it and didn't ask any follow-up questions.

"I wanted to go back and ask her a few questions, especially since Turner was a doctor too. I just got the sense that she may have seen who killed Natalie and possibly Paul Turner. We checked her flat but she wasn't there and one of the girls finally told us she spends time in a warehouse on Commonwealth. So we went to check there. As soon as we pulled up, I had a bad feeling. I can't really explain it but the place just didn't feel right. I pulled my gun as we approached the warehouse and asked Frost to pull his.

"We went through the first floor and except for some evidence people were sleeping there we didn't see anything unusual and we hadn't found Valerie or any signs of her so we proceeded to the second floor. Once we got to the second floor it was clear we had entered a crime scene. We saw a body on the ground and Frost went over to check. A male suspect, early 30s about 6 foot approximately 180 pounds. Dark hoodie, dark jeans, black sneakers, short brown hair, came out from around a corner with a board in his hand. He went to hit Frost and I shouted to get Frost's attention. The board knocked over Frost and the guy came charging at me. I sidestepped him and went to take aim and just as I was able to and Frost was regaining his balance, the suspect and I fired at each other at the same time. I got grazed and I don't know if I hit him or not because he fired as he ran away. I think I got him in the shoulder but I can't be certain. It all was over in about thirty seconds.

"Both Frost and I tried to follow the guy but he had too much of a head start and we lost him. I called in our location and we went back to the body. It was Valerie Higgins. Once paramedics arrived on scene they made both of us come here to get checked out. We wouldn't leave until the CSRU team showed up and I believe Dr. Rizzoli-Isles was on her way to do the initial exam of the body."

Jane nodded. "If you saw the suspect again could you identify him?"

Riley nodded, "It was the same man that Frost has on video from the Boston Harbor Hotel. And if we get our hands on him I can absolutely identify him."

"Alright. You discharged your service weapon. I'm going to need it until IA can clear you."

"I have already turned it over to Crowe. Lieutenant Korsak asked Crowe to hold the scene until you could take over."

Jane nodded again. "Sit tight. You are not leaving AMA. So, until a doctor says you can go you will sit still. Have you called Frankie? Do you want me to do that?"

"I called him about ten minutes before you got here. He's heading over once his shift ends after I convinced him it was just a flesh wound."

"Ok, I'll be right back," Jane said and she stepped out of the room. She grabbed her phone and called Korsak.

"Jane, how's Cooper? I hear she got the worst of it."

"A through and through to the arm. Doesn't look too bad. She'll most likely be released in about an hour. Frost is good too. Sprained wrist at the most. Are you at the warehouse?"

"Yes. And so is Cavanaugh. Jane, you better get down here. There are things you need to see."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Time is a matter of perspective. Seconds and minutes tick by at the same pace regardless of the event or situation. What determines the relative speed of the passage of time is the perspective of the individual. Minutes and hours passing by fast or slow ultimately depends more on the event and its participants. Time can't be controlled but it can be manipulated. The trick to that, however, is knowing in the exact moment you need to manipulate time that in fact you need to manipulate it. That ability is a very rare and possessed by few.

Jane contacted Frankie and assured him that Riley did in fact only have a flesh wound. She requested that he come and get her and take her home as Jane was giving her the rest of the day off and Jane made Frankie promise to keep Riley from working at least for the rest of the day. Jane then informed Riley that she was off for the rest of the day. That did not go over very well but Jane pointed out that IA had not cleared her yet and Riley would still be required to go through the mandatory psych evaluation which Jane could order her to do before letting her back in the field if she resisted taking the rest of the day off. In the end Jane won.

She didn't mandate a day off for Frost. She offered but didn't mandate. He flatly declined. Jane was not shocked. Ensuring that Riley would in fact stay at the hospital until Frankie came to get her, Jane and Frost left and headed to the warehouse. She needed to see whatever it was that Korsak wanted her to see and Frost had the hotel video for Maura to take a look at. She wanted a positive ID on their suspect as quickly as she could make that happen.

Maura was just signing off for the techs to remove the body of Valerie Higgins back to the morgue for an autopsy when Jane and Frost entered the crime scene. Jane went up to Maura before she even thought to speak with Korsak or Cavanaugh.

"Is Riley going to be ok?" Maura asked with genuine concern.

"Yes. Luckily it was a flesh wound. She's getting taken home by Frankie. Maura, I need you to look at the hotel surveillance video and tell me if our suspect is Devin Sanders."

Maura nodded and Frost took out his iPad. He started the playback of the hotel surveillance for Maura and it didn't take long for everyone to have their answer. Maura's audible gasp when the first clear face shot of the Turner murder suspect came across the screen answered the question for everyone. Their primary suspect in three murders was definitely Dr. Devin Sanders. Maura watched all of the video Frost had emailed to himself. She didn't need confirmation for identification but she needed to see everything in an attempt at comprehension. While they had achieved identification, they were nowhere close to comprehension.

"I can't believe it," was all she managed to say to Jane.

"I'm sorry Maura," Jane also couldn't really offer much more than that.

"I need to go back to the station. I'll start the autopsy. My initial findings would suggest asphyxiation as cause of death. She, too, has multiple stab wounds similar to those of Natalie Givens and Turner. But I will need to examine the wounds to definitively determine if they are the same nature and inflicted with the same type of instrument."

"I won't be too far behind you. I need to speak with Cavanaugh and Korsak. The queries Frost ran this morning should be ready for review and we need to review everything we can find on Sanders. I'll come downstairs when I can."

Maura nodded and headed off with the body. Jane turned to Frost. "I want an APB on Dr. Devin Sanders issued with warnings of being armed and dangerous. Have it listed as a Want and list him as a person of interest for the three homicides. Also, odds are Cooper got him when she shot at him. Make sure all hospitals and clinics are issued an alert for anyone fitting Sanders' description seeking medical attention for a gunshot or similar wound." Frost took notes and nodded his head.

"After that, head back to the station and start reviewing what information has come from your queries. I want to know where this guy is. I want to know where this guy has been. Make sure you check on my ViCAP query to see if we have any other incidents that match Sanders' MO. Something tells me that our head count will not stay at three and I highly doubt these were his first murders." Frost took off for the station and Jane went to go speak with Korsak and Cavanaugh.

"What were Frost and Cooper doing here Jane?" was Cavanaugh's question.

"Continuing the investigation into the Turner and Givens murders, Sir." Jane looked right at him when she answered. "Like I told you last night, there was some evidence that suggested that Turner and Givens may be connected. Maura was able to confirm this morning that the stab wounds on both Turner and Givens were similar in nature and from the same type of instrument. Frost and Cooper were here to follow-up on an interview they conducted on Friday while initially investigating the Givens murder. Cooper remembered something our victim, Valerie Higgins, said on Friday and she wanted to ask a few more questions.

"Sir, Frost and Cooper encountered our primary murder suspect here. We have video of him at the Boston Harbor Hotel in conjunction with the time of Turner's death and both Frost and Cooper confirmed the man that attacked them is the same man from the hotel footage. And five minutes ago, we got a positive identification of our suspect. Our primary suspect is Dr. Devin Sanders. I just had Frost issue a Want and an APB for Sanders."

"How is Dr. Rizzoli-Isles connected to Sanders?" Cavanaugh ask with curiosity in his tone.

"Sir, Devin Sanders was a former student of Maura's when she was still in San Francisco. She ran into him on Friday while at the medical conference in Connecticut. They had coffee and at the time Maura thought everything was fine. However, she checked on some of what Sanders told her and he was lying to her. Once she found out that Turner was dead she grew more concerned that Sanders could be involved. Turner was an expert on medical imaging and virtual autopsies and that is what Sanders told Maura he was working on."

"Does she have any idea what triggered any of this or what his motives may be?"

"No Sir. She hadn't seen him in seven years and hadn't even emailed him in over two years. She doesn't understand any of this at all."

"You said she hasn't seen him in seven years?"

"Yes Sir, until Friday in Hartford."

Cavanaugh turned to Korsak, "Then I really don't understand this." Korsak nodded in his agreement with Cavanaugh. It was clear to Jane that she was missing something.

"Understand what Sir?"

To answer that, Korsak took Jane up one more flight of stairs in the abandoned warehouse. There was a CSRU team processing something on the third floor. Clearly Korsak and Cavanaugh had already been up here. And clearly this was what Korsak called Jane about to come and see.

Jane turned a corner and finally saw what was housed on the third floor. There was a cot in the corner with some miscellaneous clothes, food, water and books. She quickly assumed that this is where Sanders had been sleeping. But her attention was immediately pulled to a wall opposite the cot. And she couldn't believe what she was looking at.

You could easily call it a shrine. Jane had only seen something like this once in her career. And that suspect was obsessed. Delusionally obsessed with an ex-girlfriend. He had followed her. Took pictures of her. Stalked her. And ultimately killed her. Jane and Frost had found his 'wall' when they went to execute the arrest warrant. She remembered how creepy looking at that wall had felt. But that was nothing compared to what looking at his wall, Sanders' wall, made Jane feel.

She stood back and tried to take it all in. Newspaper headlines. Articles. And photos. Hundreds of photos. Some from media sources- newspapers, printed photos from news websites. Some in color. Some in black and white. Some old. Jane spotted one article that was over five years old. Others were as current as a blurb that had run a month ago in the Boston Globe. And then there were the actual photos. Candid pictures from all over Boston. Jane felt like she was looking at moments of her life in retrospect as if they had a personal photographer that had followed them throughout the last five years.

She turned a shade paler when her eyes drifted to one photo. She just stared at it. Looking at it gave her goose bumps through her whole body. Korsak noticed her reaction and seemed to pick up on the fact that photo affected her more than the rest.

"Jane?"

She didn't answer right away. Quietly, finally "I take it Maura hasn't seen this yet?" Jane knew Maura wouldn't have been able to hide her concern if she had and she hadn't given any indication that she was aware that this was just one floor above her when she was here.

"No. I didn't show her and I wouldn't let any of the techs talk about it around her. I wanted you to see it first." Korsak said.

Jane stood staring at the wall again. She was trying to take it all in. Maybe if she could see everything she could understand it better. But she was having a hard time understanding the meaning behind what she was looking at. She understood it was obsession. She understood it was delusional. She was starting to understand that Sanders was a very sick man. But she didn't understand what all of it would mean for her. For Maura.

Her attention went back to the one photo she found more disturbing than all of the rest. Korsak saw her eyes go back to it as well. "Jane? Where was that one from?"

She turned to Korsak, "Our honeymoon."

Cavanaugh had come up and joined them. The three stood staring at the wall full of photos and articles. No one spoke for a few minutes. Finally Cavanaugh broke the silence.

"Jane, what do you need from us?"

Without taking her eyes off the wall Jane answered. "We need to find Sanders. It looks like he has been here for quite some time. I want to team to canvas the neighborhood and let's see if we can find anyone who has seen or interacted with him. We have good facial shots from the hotel we can get out to all units."

Cavanaugh nodded. "We'll blanket the neighborhood."

"I need to return to the station. Frost should have all the query results back and maybe there's a clue as to where Sanders might be. Or what he's planning to do next. I think we need to figure out why he chose now to make his move."

"You think he's making a move?"

"I certainly don't believe he ran into Maura on Friday on accident. I think he followed her there. Looking at this, I know he followed her there. So he's starting something. Three dead bodies. He has some sort of plan and he has at least one more target in mind."

"Possibly. Jane, I'll head back with you and we all can look at the information that Frost and Maura have been able to gather. Maybe we can figure out his motive." Korsak tried to sound reassuring as he made the offer.

"Vince, I don't care about his motive. I agree with Jane. He has at least one more target in mind and we will not allow him to carry out whatever he has planned." Cavanaugh turned to Jane. "Do you want a protection detail assigned?"

Jane was quiet for a minute. She didn't want one. She hated the thought. Always had. But this wasn't just about her. She had Maura to think about. So she turned back to Sean, "Based on this wall, I think I'm going to need one."

All three turned their attention back to Sanders' wall and the hundreds of pictures and articles centered on Sergeant Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Thanks to everyone who has commented, responded, reviewed, followed, favorited this story. I appreciate the responses. I know this story is a bit involved. I'm sort of sorry about that. Sorry in the sense that I promise I'm not deliberately messing with you guys. Not so sorry as I find the story as it plays in my head to be very entertaining. I'm trying to get it out as quickly as I can. I'll probably be able to multiple chapter posts again tomorrow. **

**As for a couple of answers or tips- you all know I won't give too much away…I like to keep you guessing. Clearly I did with the last chapter. A warning…..I may not be done with surprising you guys quite yet. Don't get too comfortable with who you think is or isn't in danger.**

**I've woven the notion of Time thought most chapters. There is a reason for that….we just aren't there yet. Oh and I will elaborate on the promise and what Jane was trying to ask Angela….but again….we just aren't there yet.**

**Lastly before you can read on for the next chapter of my strange madness, I know some have asked for more Rizzles….again….that will come….but that needs to fit just right into the story. So, patience is requested from you all….and hopefully you will continue to enjoy the journey.**

Chapter 12

Maura and Frost had been busy since their return to the station. The reports run from the night before were all starting to pour in to both the computers of Frost and of Maura's. Maura sat at her desk and did a quick review of the reports. Even her quick review told her a lot.

The instrument used to stab both Paul Turner and Natalie Givens had been a scalpel. Maura would never know with any level of certainty whether or not it was the same exact scalpel but the wounds and cuts could at least be stated with medical certainty that the same type of scalpel had caused the stab wounds.

The DNA results from the skin tissue recovered from under Turner's fingernails came back as a confirmed CODIS hit for Devin Sanders. Maura had also performed a rape kit on Givens and had found traces of semen which also came back matching the DNA signature of Sanders. Maura did not see any signs that would suggest rape but there was sexual contact between Sanders and Givens. Toxicology results for both Givens and Turner showed a presence of the benzodiazepine flunitrazepam. Maura made a note that both victims had ingested a sedative.

Maura had seen everything that she needed to see from the video she watched on Frost's iPad to know that Devin was involved in the murder of Paul Turner. The results from her re-examination of Givens also convinced her that Sanders was involved in her death as well. She did not like to guess or speculate without evidence or analysis but as she looked up at the body of Valerie Higgins lying on her table in the morgue and she knew that Devin has involved in this death too.

Maura released a heavy sigh. She had seen murder and death on a daily basis. She had long passed the point where she was surprised by what a person was capable of doing to another. She seldom understood how a person could take the life of another but she was no longer shocked by the fact that there was a percentage of the population in the world that did not seem to value life and had no issues with taking life from another. But this one had surprised her. In her career there had been a few times where she ended up knowing the person who ultimately turned out to be a killer. She hadn't ever thought Devin would be capable of murder. But then again, she hadn't seen him in several years.

Maura sat at her desk and pulled open a drawer. She dug around and finally pulled out a black, leather address book. She hadn't looked through this book in a long time. She stored the numbers she called the most in her cell phone. The number she was looking for wasn't in her phone but it was in her address book. She flipped through the pages until she found the name she was looking for. She was desperate for some answers. She didn't know if she would get them by calling this number but she decided that she didn't have anything to lose.

She punched the number into her phone and listened to it ring. On the third ring she was convinced she was just going to get voicemail but at the last second before the voicemail feature would have kicked in she heard a voice. "Hello?"

"Mary?" Maura asked wanting to make sure.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Mary, it's Maura Isles."

There was silence on the other line. Maura had no idea how to interpret the silence. So she didn't try to fill it in. After a few seconds she heard Mary speak. "Maura? It's been a long time."

"Yes, yes it has."

"What can I do for you?" Mary's tone was reserved. Maura had not been a close friend with Mary and Devin but she had considered her a friend.

"Mary, I need to talk to you about Devin." She heard an audible gasp on the other line. "Mary?"

"Is he out?" and there was panic in her voice.

"Out?" Maura was completely confused. "Mary, what do you mean is he out?"

"Maura, Devin has been in a mental institution for almost two years."

"Oh Mary. I had no idea. What happened?"

"He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about two years after you left for Boston. He began to have breakthrough hallucinations. We tried medication and it helped for a while. But he would stop taking the meds and the hallucinations would return. At first he was harmless. He was more scared by the hallucinations than I was. But over time he got progressively worse and more violent. He started having delusions of being this whole other person and he became aggressive.

"About two and a half years ago he developed a delusion that he was involved with one of his graduate students. It became clear that he could no longer distinguish between reality and his hallucinations. He became obsessed with her. He stalked her boyfriend. One night he attacked him and almost killed him. He said that the boyfriend was trying to get in between him and the grad student and he needed to eliminate the threat to her. He was institutionalized as part of a sentencing agreement."

Maura didn't know what to say. "Mary, do you know what institution he was sent to?"

"He was sent to Coalinga State Hospital. Maura, you still haven't told me why you are asking about Devin."

"It appears that Devin isn't at Coalinga anymore. He's here somewhere in Boston. Mary, we think he is involved with a series of murders here."

"Oh God!" Mary exclaimed. "Maura, be careful. Devin, when he is off his meds, can be very violent."

Maura again looked at the body lying on her table. Mary did not have to tell her that. "Thank you Mary. I'm sorry I was calling under these circumstances but you've been very helpful."

Maura hung up her phone and typed a text message to Jane.

_Devin was in state mental hospital. Schizophrenic and violent._

It wasn't a lot of detail but Maura wanted Jane to know at least that much as quickly as possible. She then entered the morgue to start the autopsy on Valerie Higgins.

Meanwhile, Frost had reports of his own to sift through. Some were helpful. Some were not. Frost found the arrest record for the attempted murder in San Francisco. Sanders had drugged the victim with the sedative Rohypnol and had stabbed him with a scalpel. The victim survived the attack and was able to identify his attacker as Sanders. Sanders had a documented history of mental illness including a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Sanders' lawyer was able to work out a plea deal that committed Sanders to Coalinga State Hospital.

Sanders had been a resident at the hospital until about a year ago when he managed to escape. As Frost read the police report on the escape it turned out not to be as dramatic as it sounded. There hadn't been an elaborate plot to escape. Sanders had taken advantage of a new guard and loose door controls and one day simply walked out an unlocked, unguarded side door. It took several hours before the hospital staff figured out that Sanders had disappeared and by the time a search was launched Sanders was nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately for Frost, once Sanders had walked out of the hospital he stayed off the grid. No credit cards. No driver's license. Sanders had no known identity that Frost could electronically trace after he escaped. Finding his current location may take some effort.

Frost was able to find the connection between Turner and Sanders. While Sanders was still at UCSF he was in fact working on medical imaging and advancements relating to virtual autopsies. From what information Frost could gather, Sanders' research hit an impasse. He sought out Dr. Turner and Turner agreed to mentor Sanders. They had worked together for about a year but it was during that year when Sanders behavior became more and more erratic. Eventually Turner dropped Sanders as a student. Sanders was denied tenure at UCSF and a month later he was arrested for attempted murder.

The ViCAP query came back with just the attack on the victim from San Francisco. From what Frost could tell, Sanders had not hurt anyone since his escape from the mental hospital until this last week. Frost had happy to have the background information on Sanders but he was frustrated that there wasn't anything that gave them a clue about where Sanders might be located currently.

He tried tracing the email message Sanders had sent Maura about the dinner reservation but he did not have much success. The account was a gmail account and Sanders had not tried to hide or encrypt it. The mail was sent from a computer and not a cell phone or tablet but Frost was unable to trace the IP address to an area more defined than the greater Boston area. He contacted investigators at Google and arranged for notification if there was further email activity on the account and the investigators promised to put a trace on the account to possibly help trace the IP address if Sanders once again logged into the account.

Frost also called Menton's to check on the reservation Sanders claimed to have made for three on Wednesday. He was a bit surprised when it was confirmed that there was in fact a reservation under Dr. Devin Sanders for Wednesday night at 8 pm for three. Frost wondered for a moment if there was any chance that Sanders intended on keeping that reservation. Maybe they would get lucky and be able to use that if they couldn't find him before Wednesday. Frost didn't want a killer running loose on the streets of Boston for another two days but it would be interesting to see if they could trap Sanders at the restaurant if they couldn't find him before.

Frost was getting an update from patrol on the search for Sanders in the neighborhoods surrounding the warehouse. As of yet, there was no progress and no citing of Sanders. He got off the phone and looked up to see Jane, Korsak and Cavanaugh all walking into the bullpen. All had a look on their face that made Frost believe they were all aware of something he was not. And whatever it was it was not good. All three approached Frost.

"Where are we at?" asked Cavanaugh.

Frost gave all three a rundown of what he knew. All three seemed to cringe when Frost filled in the details on Sanders' arrest as well as how seemingly ease it had been for a mental patient to just walk out of a state hospital.

"Alright. So we clearly have identified our suspect. Now we need to find him." Cavanaugh looked at the other three looking for ideas.

"Sir, I just checked with patrol and no one has spotted Sanders or anyone even matching his description in the Back Bay." Frost gave the recap.

"Then we keep looking. Frost you said you had Google investigators put a trace on his gmail account?" Jane had asked a question for the first time.

"Yes. I know the investigators. They've helped me out in the past. We may be able to isolate an IP address and terminal location if he logs on and sends any more emails."

"Why don't we entice him to respond? Why don't we send him another email from Maura's email account to see if we can get him to log on and respond?"

"Jane, that's a good idea." Korsak added. They all agreed that was at least something proactive. No one was happy that they seemed to be stuck not really knowing where else to look.

"Alright. Jane, have Maura send another email. Make sure she doesn't say anything that would set him off or warn him. We are just trying to get him to send any answer back. Vince, I want you to coordinate with SWAT a plan for surveillance and apprehension of Sanders at Menton's if he is just crazy enough to show up for that dinner reservation. I want options to review by tomorrow morning. I want this guy before Wednesday night if we can find him. After the confrontation with Cooper and Frost in the warehouse I don't know if this guy knows we are on to him but maybe his mental state is so gone that he will show up at the restaurant and I want to be ready if he does." Cavanaugh's voice was steady as he gave out directions. "And Jane, I'll approve the security detail for you until Sanders is in custody. I assume you are good with a detail for just when you are not working?"

Jane nodded. She was trying not to get mad about the detail. Frost looked a little confused on why Cavanaugh was talking about a security detail for Jane and why Jane wasn't putting up a fight. He was definitely out of the loop on something. "Sir?" Jane asked before Cavanaugh could leave and head to his office.

"Yes?"

Jane looked at Korsak and Frost and then back to Cavanaugh. "Don't mention the security detail or the wall to my mother. Please."

Cavanaugh smirked and nodded. There was no way he was going to be the one to say anything to Angela Rizzoli. "Not a word from me." And he headed back to his office.

"Jane?" came from Frost. He wanted to know what he clearly didn't know.

"Talk to Korsak. He will fill you in. I need to see Maura," and she turned to head for the elevators.

Sean entered his office and was surprised to see Hagan sitting waiting for him. "Patrick," he acknowledged as a greeting. "Did we have an appointment?"

"I want to know a status update on the investigation. I heard there was some movement."

"We have identified a primary suspect and we can link him to Turner. He was a former research partner/mentor with Turner. The suspect has a history of mental illness and is actually an escapee from a California mental hospital."

"When do you anticipate an apprehension?"

"Two of our detectives already engaged with the suspect this morning but he escaped capture. We have an APB out for him and we are actively searching for him. Also, we have information of a possible appointment he may keep and we are working on plans for an apprehension at this site if we cannot locate him sooner."

"He escaped from an altercation with two of your detectives?"

"I'm afraid so. They were jumped during a follow-up interview. One of my detectives was shot during the altercation. Patrick, besides Turner, our suspect has killed two teenage prostitutes in the Back Bay."

Hagan squirmed at this. Clearly he didn't want his friend's death thrown together with that of two prostitutes. "Sean, your division isn't telling the press about the prostitutes I would hope."

That pissed Cavanaugh off. "Patrick, how I handle my investigation and what we release to the media is my call. If I think it will help us capture a murder suspect I will tell the press about the prostitutes."

"Sean, I don't question your authority. I don't. But I am asking for a favor. I can't be linked to any situations that mention a personal friend and prostitutes, teenage prostitutes no less, in the same story. That is not the type of press I can afford. So just make sure that team of yours doesn't go looking for sensational headlines."

That was all it took for Sean to snap. "Patrick, you are an ignorant son of a bitch. You come to me begging for me to solve the murder of a person you call a friend and in less than 24 hours my team has identified the suspect and found evidence linking that suspect to the murder. Instead of thanking me and my team for a job well done, you have the audacity to be concerned about the headlines you might receive? Tread carefully here Patrick. We both know that 'this team of mine' is responsible for that wave of good press you are trying to ride right into the Governor's Mansion. Now, I have work to do. Get out of my office and don't ever talk to me about my team again unless it's to say that thank you I'll be waiting for once we make an arrest." Cavanaugh didn't stand up or watch as Hagan left his office. He hated politics and politicians. He had a Sergeant and a Doctor he had to worry about.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was days like today that really made Jane wonder about time. So much had already happened with the case and it had only been 24 hours. How could that be? How could a day like today seem to stretch on forever while countless other days, good days, she had spent in life flew by and seemed so fast. It didn't seem fair. The good days should be savored and should last forever. The bad days are what should pass as quickly as possible. Jane was a realist. She knew bad would happen. But why bad and slow? It should be bad and fast. But, that just didn't seem like that was the way her world worked. Completely unfair.

Jane rode down the elevator to the morgue. She needed to talk with Maura and somehow figure out a way to explain the wall of photos they had found without completely freaking her out. She was passed trying to keep things from Maura. She had promised Maura before they got married that she would share everything with her and not keep things from her anymore. That was her biggest hurdle to get over for their relationship. Jane had the tendency to keep bad things or things she thought would just worry Maura from her. But she broke that tendency, that habit, and she broke it because Maura had asked her to.

So now, here she was again with news she knew would only worry Maura but she was determine to tell her and keep her involved in what was happening. But she was not happy to be in this place again. Too many times in their relationship both as friends and partners had Jane had to face come kind of conversation with Maura about one of them being in danger. Too many times. When would that ever stop? When could they just have a normal, safe life together? What did Jane need to do to stop having days like today?

She rounded the corner and headed for the lab. She assumed her wife would still be working on the autopsy for Higgins. But when she got to the lab Maura wasn't there. So she headed for Maura's office. Along the way she ran into one of the techs. "Have you seen Dr. Rizzoli-Isles?"

The tech looked up, "Oh hi Sergeant. Dr. Rizzoli-Isles had to go over to the forensic lab to confirm some test results. She should be back in about fifteen minutes."

Jane nodded. "Thank you. I'll wait for her in her office." Jane wandered into Maura's office and tried to figure out which piece of furniture she wanted to sit down on to wait. In her opinion, all of Maura's office furniture was extremely uncomfortable. She chose the couch as the best of her bad options. She had never felt like she had the right to sit in Maura's desk chair. Thinking about it, Maura had never sat in Jane's desk chair either. Just as she was settling in there was a knock on the door.

"Janie, what are you doing sitting in here?" asked Angela.

Jane was a little surprised to see her mother standing in the doorway. "I'm waiting for Maura, Ma. She had to go to the other lab. What are you doing down here?"

"I was looking for you. Vince told me I could find you down here."

"What did you need?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to check up on you. Frankie told me about Riley and Barry. I figured that was the call you got earlier today. I saw Barry upstairs and he looks like he's ok. Frankie insists Riley is ok too. But I was worried about you." There was worry and concern in Angela's tone.

"I'm ok Ma. Barry and Riley both will be ok. We got lucky."

Angela entered Maura's office and walked over towards Jane. She hesitated for a second but then sat down next to Jane on the couch. She tried to lean back but found it uncomfortable. So she straightened up a bit. This made Jane laugh for the first time that day.

"Don't try to get comfortable Ma. It won't happen on this couch. I love Maura but her taste in office furniture leaves something to be desired."

Angela smiled. "Clearly. Jane, what's happening?"

"What did you mean?"

"I mean Barry and Riley get hurt. Barry comes back to work when he should be at home. And Sean and Vince look like they are strategizing for an invasion. That call you got last night was not a typical murder call was it?"

Jane had to marvel at Angela's powers of perception. Maybe she inherited her detective instincts from her mother. "It's not a typical case Ma. But I can't really get into it with you." Jane rarely shared details of open investigations with her mother. It usually only made her worry more and Jane knew all the details in this case would absolutely worry her.

Angela had expected that as an answer. Jane said that to her a lot but she had to ask anyway. "Can I as you something not about this case then?"

"Sure Ma," not really sure she wanted her to but she wouldn't say no.

"Earlier today, you tried to ask me something about promises," Angela paused waiting to see if Jane was going to cut her off and block her question.

"I remember," she answered.

"You never finished asking whatever you wanted to ask me and I had a feeling this morning it was something rather important. Could you ask me now?"

The genuine care that came from Angela made Jane smile. She really did love her mother. Very much. She looked over at her and couldn't help but try to ask again. "Ma, I did a bad job trying to ask you something this morning. I'm sorry I got you thinking about Pop and marriage."

"That's alright Janie. But you do want to talk about something, I just can't figure out what. Can't you just ask me outright?"

She usually didn't. Jane usually tried to mask her questions or advice seeking from her mother if the topic was too personal. Jane usually tried to limit the amount of information she gave to her mother. She had done that with everyone in her life except for Maura. Maura always got it out of her. And it was getting easier and easier for Jane to just tell Maura things. Maura rarely had to pull details out of Jane anymore. She did want to ask her mother about something. She released a heavy sigh.

"Ma, have you ever tried to make a deal, a promise, with God?"

That was definitely not anything Angela was expecting to hear from Jane. Jane was raised Catholic and Angela believed that Jane believed in God and that it was the Church part of the religion that Jane didn't like. She rarely went to Church and usually only after Angela really pestered her. And that hadn't happened in over a year. Angela knew Jane had issued with the Church's stance on homosexuality which she also had issues with. Angela never got the sense that Jane was a deeply religious person so for her to be asking about promises to God was surprising.

"I, uh, I've always tried not to do that. I always felt God had bigger things to be worried about than me. But I can think of two occasions where I tried to make a deal."

"Will you tell me?" Jane asked in a tone that Angela understood she really needed to know.

"The first time was when Tommy was sent to prison. I was so worried about what would happen to him when he was there, that it might change him and not for the better. I went to Church and I asked for God to keep Tommy safe and get him through his stay in prison. I offered up being a better Catholic. Doing more charity work and volunteering. And that I'd make Frank come to Church more."

"And the second time?"

"The second time was the day both you and Frankie were hurt at the station. Janie, I was so scared for both of you. You both were hurt so badly. None of the doctors, Maura, no one could convince me that both of you would make it through what happened. So I tried to bargain with God. I asked him to take me instead of one of you."

"Ma!" Jane was both shocked and touched by that.

"Janie, I would have done anything that day to save you and your brother. I would have switched places with either of you in a second. I meant it when I tried to offer myself in either one of your places. It's a mother's instinct to want to protect her children. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, or the boys. You'll understand that more when you become a mother. A mother's love for her child, there's not a stronger force on the planet than that."

Jane was quiet. She had started rubbing the scar on her left hand as Angela had been talking. Angela noticed and she knew Jane only did that when something was bothering her. She thought about what Jane had said earlier in the day and what she was asking now. Unsure if Jane would even answer her, she asked anyway. "What promise with God did you make that you're worried you can't keep?"

_**(Day before Jane's confrontation with Doyle at Cedar Junction- six months ago)**_

_Jane finished up her meeting at Harvard Yard with Dean. He was able to convince her that his people could deliver at Cedar Junction. She needed a knife to be planted and for the guards that would respond to the confrontation to be Feds. Doyle needed to be shot but Jane didn't want him killed. Jane had promised Maura that Doyle would not be killed. Given what happened the last time Doyle had been injured, Jane knew Maura couldn't ever agree to any of this without a guarantee that he would survive and his 'death' would be faked and not real. Jane doubted her relationship with Maura would survive Doyle's actual death from something Jane had planned._

_Dean had promised that Doyle would go through with the attack on her. He said Doyle was reluctant but yielded only when Dean pushed that everyone believed it was the only way to save Maura from current and future Mob hits. Dean had warned Jane that Doyle may try to waiver from that at the last minute. She needed to do anything she could to get him to attack her. He promised the cameras would be disabled but the scene and the room needed to look like Doyle had attacked Jane._

_Once all of that was squared away Jane checked in with Korsak, Frost and Cavanaugh. The boys were all delivering on their end. From what Jane could see, everything was lining up and all should be in place for the arrests and for her confrontation with Doyle. She was ready to go home. To spend the night with Maura. She needed to be with her. To hold her. She had to be honest with herself and admit that she was about to let a known killer attack her with a knife. There was a good possibility that she may not survive tomorrow if Doyle changed how he handled the situation. And he very well could._

_So much was going through Jane's mind. She went to head home but decided to make one more stop before she did. She pulled up to St. Cecilia Parish and parked her car. Jane hadn't been to Church in a long, long time. But there was something about the uncertainty of tomorrow that was pulling her towards the building._

_She entered the Church and quietly took a seat in a pew toward the back. There wasn't anyone else in the Church and she was oddly glad that she was alone. She sat for a second and finally, in a soft and quiet tone, she started talking. Talking, she hoped, to God._

"_It's been awhile. I'm not even sure I have the right to be speaking with you. But, here I am. First, I need to thank you for everything I have in my life. My family. My friends. My job. And Maura. I'm not really sure how you feel about us. I think you care more about love and respect than by the gender of those that do love. At least I hope that You do._

"_The thing is. Something is going to happen to me tomorrow. I'm going to let myself get hurt to try and save the person I love. To be honest, I'm scared. I need to do this. And I would die to save Maura. I'd just like not to have to. I know it's selfish. But I want to make it through this. I want a life with her. I want more time with her. I wasted so much time. So much time we could have spent being each other's everything. I don't want my time with her to end. Not yet. But, if it means she'll be safe. I will die for her._

"_I'm asking for help here. I'm asking You for help. All of this needs to happen just right tomorrow. I need for her to be safe and safe forever. But, if You can, can you please look out for me too. If it's possible I would like to be able to survive this. To have a life with the best person I have ever known in my life. _

"_I don't have a lot to offer. To promise. I'm not going to be able to promise that I will go to Church. I'm not sure structured religion is for me. But I can promise I won't give up on my belief in You. I never have stopped and I can promise that I won't. But I don't know if that's enough here._

"_I have never asked for anything for myself from you before. If it wasn't for Maura I wouldn't be asking this now. Which sounds silly since I'm doing this for her as it is. What I mean is, well, if it wasn't for Maura I wouldn't know what real, true love feels like. She has shown me what it means to love. What it means to let someone into your heart. What giving yourself to someone can bring into your life. Maura has given that to me. I owe her so much. More than I could ever repay. So, tomorrow is an easy thing for me to do because it's for her and that makes it easy. _

"_But, it's not enough. Maura deserves everything. Everything every day. For all her days to come. I'd like to be the one that gives her everything. I want her to have all the things she wants. All the things she deserves. All the love she missed out on growing up. I want to be the one that gives her the World. But to do that, I need to survive tomorrow._

"_You have a lot of other things You need to handle. But I'm asking for You to look out for all of us tomorrow. If I survive tomorrow, I promise I will spend my life making sure Maura is given everything she wants and deserves."_

"Jane?" Jane snapped to and looked at Angela. She got the clear sense that Angela had been trying to get her attention for a few minutes.

"Sorry Ma. I got lost in a thought."

"Yes you did. Jane, tell me. What promise?"

Jane looked at her mother. She went to say something but then both their heads turned when they heard Maura's heels coming down the hall. "We can talk about this later."

Angela doubted that would happen. She'd been dismissed by Jane before and enough times to know she was being dismissed now.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Maura walked into her office and was a little surprised to see both Jane and Angela sitting on her couch. Jane she expected. It was Angela that she wasn't expecting. From the looks on their faces, Maura knew she had interrupted a conversation that she wasn't going to hear the end of. She wondered what they had been talking about.

It was Jane who spoke first. "Hi," she said with a forced smile. "Did you get the lab tests straightened out?"

Maura shook her head a bit. Jane was usually better at subtle subject changes than that effort. She really didn't want whatever she and Angela had been discussing to continue. "I got the reports I needed, yes." She gave Jane a look Jane knew would mean an explanation was in order later. "Angela, have you heard anything about Riley?"

"I spoke to Frankie about thirty minutes ago. Riley is home and resting. He says she is fine and wants to come back to work tomorrow." Angela looked at Jane. "You're not going to let her come back tomorrow are you?"

"It depends on how she feels Ma. She may have to do some desk duty but if she's cleared to work she's cleared to work. I doubt I can keep her home for more than today."

"You are all just alike," Angela said exasperated.

"Pardon?"

"You. Frankie. Frost. Riley. Even Vince. All of you are just a like. You get hurt at work but can't wait to get back to work. None of you ever take any time off after an injury unless you are forced to. I swear Jane you would have been back at work the next day after each one of your injuries if you could have gotten medical clearance. All of you are nuts." And with that rant, Angela got up and headed out still mumbling about injuries and needing rest but what did she know.

"She's in a mood," Maura noted.

"Yeah. She's worried about Riley."

"Should I ask what you two were talking about before I walked in?"

"We were talking about promises," but she didn't offer up a better explanation. "I need you to send another email to Devin."

Maura caught the shift in topics again but she let this one go. She could talk to Jane about Angela later at home. "What will this one say?"

"Anything. We have asked Google to put a trace on his account to try and capture an IP address and maybe a location. So we thought if there was an email from you he would be encouraged to log on and reply. We need to find him Maura."

Maura nodded and walked over to her computer. She opened her email account and clicked to start a new message. "You don't care what I write?"

"Not really. Just try to put in a question that will make him type out a response. The longer he is typing the more likely we are to narrow down a possible location of the IP address."

Maura nodded. She then started typing.

_To: DSanders75_

_From: Dr. Maura Rizzoli-Isles_

_Re: Your paper_

_Devin,_

_I was hoping to see your paper on virtual autopsies before our dinner on Wednesday. I'd like a chance to review the information so I can have a chance to ask some questions if needed. Clearly as the Chief Medical Examiner I am always interested in any advancement in medical imaging. Is your research an expansion of an existing concept or a new paradigm for the field?_

_Maura_

Before she hit send she asked Jane to review the email. "Will that work?"

Jane read it. "Yes, this is perfect. Thank you."

"Can you really trace him on an IP address?"

"Frost seems to think so. We think he is using a public computer somewhere to gain Internet access. He isn't connecting to his email through a mobile source and we don't believe he has the means to have a laptop and private Wi-Fi access. I would guess he uses a library or some other public access location to get online. So that would be a stationary IP address. If we can get that maybe we will get lucky and find him. I'm not sure he will show up on Wednesday night for our dinner."

"I'm not sure either. I don't know if he will connect Frost and Cooper and the warehouse to you and me and dinner. If he's in the midst of a paranoid delusion it will be impossible to figure out what he thinks is real or imagined."

"I got your text before I spoke with Frost. How did you know he was in a mental institution? Frost said he hadn't shared any information with you yet today."

"I called his ex-wife Mary. She filled in a few details." Jane nodded and signaled for her to continue. "According to Mary, Devin had his first hallucinations about two years after I left. That's about the right timing for a male to experience breakthrough delusions and hallucinations with schizophrenia. She said they tried to manage the hallucinations with medication but Mary said he wouldn't consistently stay on the meds."

"Did she talk to you about what caused his hospitalization?"

Maura nodded. "She said his delusions become more involved and he became more aggressive and violent. He developed a delusion that he was involved with one of his grad students. He fixated on her boyfriend and attacked him. Drugged him and stabbed him in what he felt was an effort to protect the grad student."

Jane nodded. "That makes a little bit more sense."

"What makes sense?"

"He may have a pattern of fixating on people. Maur, there was something at the warehouse Vince wouldn't let you see."

"What?"

"On the third floor, we found what looks like the area where Devin had been living. A cot, clothes, food and water. It was clear he had been staying in the warehouse for a while. There was also 'a wall'."

"A wall?"

"A wall of photos, newspaper articles, headline clippings. A shrine if you will. Definitely obsessive. Definitely creepy."

"Ok, I assume the photos are of me. I mean it can't be a coincidence that he sought me out on Friday in Hartford. I've figured out that much."

"I don't think it was a coincidence that he sought you out on Friday either. But Maura, the photos and articles weren't of you. They were of me."

Maura stared at Jane and couldn't respond. Of Jane? That made no sense. Jane didn't know Devin. Why would they be of Jane? "Of you?"

"Of me. Hundreds of them. Old articles and clippings. Some as old as five years ago. And photos of me all over Boston. Some old. Some new. And Maura, one of them was from our honeymoon. He was in Venice. The photo is of me from when we went to Murano Island to watch the glass-blowing demonstrations."

That unnerved Maura. It was already unnerving to think that Devin was following Jane and taking pictures of her but something about the effort it took to travel all the way to Italy to take photos really shook her. "I can't believe this. Jane…" she just didn't know what else to say.

"Cavanaugh is arranging a security detail for me for when I'm not working until we get Devin into custody. We both think he is going to try to make a move against me to get to you. If, according to his wife, he had a delusion about a grad student and went after her boyfriend, it looks like he may have some delusion involving you and he is planning on going after me."

Jane could tell Maura was shaken by this development. She stood up and walked over to her. She pulled her into an embrace and held her tight. She could feel Maura shaking slightly. "Hey, it's going to be ok. We'll find him. It's ok."

Maura pulled back a bit from Jane. "It's not ok. You are telling me that a paranoid schizophrenic who is responsible for three murders in the last week has hundreds of photos of you up on a wall in an abandoned warehouse and that you think he is going to come after you to get to me. How on Earth is that ok? It's not ok Jane!"

Jane pulled Maura tighter into an embrace. Truthfully it wasn't ok. But she was trying to comfort her wife. "So, maybe calling it ok is the wrong way to phrase it. But Maura, what can I say here? At least we know who it is. And at least we know what he wants. That helps. We just need to find him before he can do anything more than he already has done."

"I'm sorry," she breathed into Jane's neck.

Jane pulled back from Maura to look at her. "Sorry for what?"

"I feel like this is my fault. That you are in danger, again, because of me. Didn't we just do this?"

"Maura. This isn't your fault. You certainly have no control over a guy you haven't seen in seven years who has a history of mental illness that he wasn't experiencing when you knew him. How could you have stopped any of this? I'm not going to let you blame yourself for anything. That's not going to do any good here."

"Is this why? Situations like this? Is this what you meant when you said we just don't seem to catch a break?" Maura had a compelling look on her face wanting an answer.

Jane winced. She hadn't wanted Maura to go there. And she didn't want to talk about that. At least not now. Not here. This was not the time to get into that. "Maura, let's not talk about that right now."

"Jane…"

"I'm serious Maura. I can only focus on twenty things at once here. I don't want that to be one of them right now," she tried not to get agitated. She was mad at herself not Maura. She was focusing in on it. Had been since all of this started. But she wasn't going to fight with Maura about it again. Not today. Not if she could avoid it.

"Fine," she said and seemed resigned to let the subject drop. "So what do we do now?"

Jane knew she only stalled the argument. But she would take the stall. "As for what we do now," Jane hated to admit this but they were in a waiting mode, "we continue looking for Devin. Units all over Boston have his picture and are looking for him. Turns out Cooper did hit him when she fired her gun. CSRU found some blood on the scene that we think will match Devin's and they also failed to recover a bullet so we think she did get him. She thought she may have hit his arm or shoulder. All the hospitals and clinics are on alert for any GSWs and we've faxed his photo to every medical clinic in Boston.

"You have sent the email. If we get lucky maybe Devin will log onto his account and we can get a trace on his IP address. Otherwise, we keep looking. Korsak and Cavanaugh are working on a plan with SWAT to handle the stake out and apprehension of Devin on Wednesday night at Menton's if we can't find him sooner and if Devin keeps the date. I want him caught before that and we will have to think of a new strategy if he doesn't show for Wednesday night but other than that there isn't anything else we can do."

"That doesn't feel like enough," Maura said in a somewhat defeated tone.

"I know. But that's all we can do right now. There's nothing more your reports can tell us. I mean, are Higgins' injuries constant with Givens' and Turner's?"

"Yes. Cause of death was asphyxiation just like Givens. All the stab wounds, all eleven of them, were inflicted post-mortem and with a scalpel. And I just got her tox screen back and she too had flunitrazepam in her system."

"Flown-trap what?"

"Flunitrazepam. Rohypnol Jane."

"Oh, you could have just said that," she was trying to lighten the mood in the room even just a little.

"I also found traces of semen in Higgins and am still waiting for the DNA results those should be ready by tomorrow morning."

"I think we both can guess that it will match Devin."

"I don't guess Jane. Even with this case." But that got a small smile on her face.

"So, see? There isn't anything more we can learn from the bodies. We are stuck in a waiting mode while we try to find him."

"I guess we are. I just don't like that."

"I don't either."

"Can we just go home then? Or do you need to stay here?"

"I'm not needed here. Vince agreed to stay for a while to monitor the units search. He is still working with SWAT on plans for Wednesday. I'm sending Frost home now so he can rest a little. If we get a hit for the email tracer the investigators from Google will call Frost directly. I'm ready to go home. I can handle anything by phone if something more happens tonight. I just need to make sure that the security detail for me is ready. Can you leave?"

"As you pointed out there's nothing else I can do until the DNA results are back from Higgins tomorrow. So, yes, I can leave."

"Let me check on the security detail, send Frost home and then I'll meet you back down here. I'll follow you home and we will let the detail go ahead of us to double check the area and the house."

Maura nodded. "I need to send a few emails and then I'm done. I'll be ready by the time you finish upstairs."

Jane kissed her gently and headed upstairs to send Frost home and double check with Korsak that the detail was ready. Maura returned to her desk and finished her emails. They would head home together.

Meanwhile, Devin slowly worked to pull off his shirt. The pain from his shoulder was making movement difficult. He looked at the wound. The bleeding had stopped but the wound was red, raw and painful. He knew there could be some infection complications. He needed to see a Doctor. But he knew he couldn't. They would find him if he did. He would just have to tough it out. Maura was depending on him. He had to save her and he couldn't let something like a gunshot wound stop his plan.

He had worked too hard and too long to have a little minor injury stop him. He thought about the warehouse. He had been foolish. He shouldn't have talked with the first girl as many times as he had. He let her get close. She was too trusting. Too young. He had to kill her. She was working with them to keep him away from Maura. Too many people were trying to do that already. She couldn't be allowed to help them.

The second one he didn't feel bad about. She was nosy. She had followed the first one to the warehouse once. He didn't like her. He knew she would tell the others. She was working with them. When he saw her alone he knew he had a chance to finish her. To stop her. And the cops. They knew where he was staying and it had been the second little girl that had brought them to him. She definitely deserved to die.

Two dead people he didn't feel bad about. Dr. Turner stole his ideas. His designs. His thoughts. His way to impress Maura. He stole it all and tried to make it his. That wasn't going to happen. He saw to that. Turner deserved what he got too. And so did the second girl. He felt bad about the first one. Natalie was her name. She was sweet but he was sure she was going to tell on him. Things were starting to stray from how he had planned things.

He may have to change his plans. They found his pictures. They had to have found his pictures. That would matter. He had to rethink that now. Maybe he had to do something different. All he wanted was Maura. She understood him. His vision. His goals. She was supposed to be his. Not hers. Not the cops. A cop. A female cop. She couldn't have chosen that cop on her own. She was better than a cop. It should have been a scientist. Or a doctor. Or a teacher. Clearly someone got to her. Clearly somehow they poisoned Maura's mind. And he needed to rescue her. He would rescue her. Just, maybe, not how he had originally planned.

He put a bandage on his wound and put on a clean shirt. He needed to head out. He needed supplies. He needed to rethink what he was going to do.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Distance and time are linked in relation to your ability to interpret any given situation. Not distance in the sense of feet, meters or miles but distance in relative terms of time. The closer you are to an event the more likely your interpretation is the most accurate one. The further away you get from an event the more likely time steps in to augment your interpretation of that event. Time and distance can alter what you thought happened or how you remember that it felt. This can be both good and bad depending, as usual, on your perspective. Distance and time from a traumatic event can help you remember or relive the moments without as much raw emotions. It can allow for a better understanding of what transpired. But distance and time can play tricks on you too. You fall subject to selecting the things you chose to remember as equally as you may select the things you chose to forget.

Cavanaugh had in fact arranged for a security detail for Jane and the officers were ready by the time Jane was ready to head home. She checked in with Korsak one last time and he again was fine with staying at the station. He was still running through details on the possible Menton's operation with one of the SWAT commanders and he wanted to check up on how the day shift searches had gone. Jane sent Frost home for the night and she then headed back downstairs with her detail in tow.

She hated it. Hated having to even ask fellow officers to babysit her house. Her. Part of her wanted to turn the detail down and insist that she could and would take care of herself. But she was trying to take Maura into account. She knew Maura would feel better if Jane accepted the detail. Maura would rest easier if she knew that there were people outside their home trying to make sure nothing happened to them.

She was trying to learn from her past. Learn from the times she tried to handle all the dangerous situations on her own without any help. She was trying to avoid repeating the mistakes she could sit and now second guess. So she accepted the detail. She wasn't even going to complain about it. If she allowed herself, she could give herself some credit for growing. If she allowed herself.

She met up with Maura outside her office and they walked to the parking garage with the detail. One of the officers made sure Maura got to her car fine and the other escorted Jane to hers. Then the detail went ahead of them both to arrive at their house before they did. Jane told Maura to wait five minutes in her car before she pulled out from her parking spot to head home. This would allow them time for the detail team to get to the house and do a perimeter check of the area, the garage, the house and the guest house. Jane knew Angela was still working so she didn't need to worry about warning her about the check of the guest house. But she would have to inform her of the detail at some point. She didn't look forward to that conversation. She caused her mother way too much concern over the years.

Both Jane and Maura got home without incident. The detail checked and double checked the area and found no disturbances outside. Jane let them into the house and she waited with Maura in the entryway while they swept the inside of the house. Jane had warned the officers about Jo but she forgot to mention Bass. There was a slight moment of humor when one of the officers rounded the corner in the living room and encountered the African tortoise as he was making his way from one side of the room to the other. It's not normal for Jane to hear an officer assigned to security detail to scream like a girl. But, if you aren't ready for Bass he can do that to you. The officer was relieved when Jane, who along with Maura had heard the scream, promised not to mention it to the other officer with a knowing smile. And Jane wondered if Bass got private enjoyment from the unique reactions to his first introductions to new people. The detail then took position outside the house for the night. Jane had promised she had no plans on going out unless there was a call from the station.

The mood for the ladies was quiet but not tense. There was always such comfort between the two. Even when one was in a bad mood or a rare occasion when one was mad at the other there was still a lack of the tension you would expect to find. They both were more lost in thought than not interacting with each other. Both trying to reflect on the events of the last two days and ponder what was still to come.

Maura started dinner. Jane turned on the TV to watch Sportscenter. She had wanted a distraction. At least for a while. But there was a lull in any interesting Boston sporting events and nothing ESPN tried to cover carried enough interest for Jane for her to be distracted. She quickly gave up and turned off the TV. She wandered into the kitchen to help Maura with dinner. Without being asked, she started prepping vegetables for a salad. This made Maura grin. Jane had never been a salad person before getting involved with Maura.

After about ten minutes of silence, Jane looked up at Maura. "Alright, out with it."

Maura sighed. Jane always seemed to know when she wanted to talk about something but didn't know how or if she should bring it up. She had tried this line of questioning once already today and had been shot down. She wasn't sure she wanted to try it again.

Maura's hesitation to even start a conversation told Jane exactly what Maura wanted to talk about. It was clear the stall from earlier tonight was about to expire. There was going to be no avoiding the conversation now that they were home so Jane braced herself for what was to come.

"Jane," she hesitated and Jane knew she was trying to figure out the best way of starting.

"Maura, do you really want to talk about this?" And based on Jane's tone Maura knew Jane understood exactly what Maura wanted to discuss. "Because if you do then we will."

That was more than Maura thought she was going to get from Jane. She had expected for Jane to try to stop the conversation again. But apparently they were going to try discussing this again.

"I think we need to. You didn't answer my question from earlier today. So, I'm going to ask it again. Considering what is going on, what we are dealing with, is it situations like this? Is this why?"

Jane exhaled and looked at Maura. They were going to discuss this again. The stall was definitely over. "Yes Maura. This, all of this, is an example of why I'm against the idea. Can you blame me?"

"No, I can't blame you. I do understand Jane. I do. And maybe…maybe you are right. No matter how hard we try trouble does just seem to find us. I'm starting to lose count on the number of times we've had police staking out in front of our house."

Jane looked at Maura. She heard what Maura had said and knew that Maura, being Maura, she wasn't just saying it. Maura showed no signs of breaking out in hives. But, Jane also knew that Maura's current opinion was entirely based on the fact that the police were in fact staked out in front of their house. That didn't exactly give her the best perspective for this conversation. Jane knew, had always known, where Maura really fell on this subject in her heart of hearts.

"Maura, sweetheart, be honest. If we are going to try to talk about this again we both need to be completely honest. Even with this new…craziness… deep down you still really want to have kids. You still see us having a family."

Maura didn't give an audible reply but she nodded yes. Jane thought as much. Maura even attempting to consider Jane's mindset about starting a family had absolutely everything to do with the fact a delusional schizophrenic may be trying to hurt one if not both of them. But that had been Jane's point the one and only time they had really tried to talk about this. And ended up basically fighting about this.

Kids. Maura wanted them. And she didn't care if she carried a child or they adopted. But Maura wanted kids. Jane didn't want them. Didn't trust their world to bring children into the mix. She had been through too much. Been injured too many times to think kids was a good idea. Jane's job was a part of who she was and Jane felt it was just too risky to try to subject a child to a possible fate of losing one or both parents.

This had seemingly been the only thing Jane had ever felt like she couldn't give Maura. Something Maura had wanted but Jane was unwilling to consider. The thought of denying Maura something she wanted tormented Jane. But she was torn. Torn between giving the woman she loved everything she deserved to have, everything she wanted and being able to live with herself and be true to something she was deathly afraid of.

Not afraid in the sense of the kids themselves. She liked kids. She was actually pretty good with kids. She knew she would love her own kids. She knew Maura would make an excellent mother. No, what Jane was deathly afraid of was hurting her kid. Having her life, her job, her inability to avoid danger or injury impact the life of an innocent child. Jane just couldn't get herself past believing it was too dangerous to have her as a parent.

Look what her job, her life, had done to her own mother. Night after night of endless worry. Always afraid of the ringing of the phone or the knock on the door. Always thinking that the next time would be THE time. The next injury would be the last injury. Jane saw what her job and her life had done to her own mother. And she just couldn't stomach the idea of doing that to her own child.

She had a hard enough time knowing she was subjecting Maura to a life of uncertainty. The same worries Angela had Maura now had too. Every time Jane left the house there was a chance she could encounter a perp who was just a second faster than Jane or a second ahead of Jane. That is all it would take. Just a second. A second faster to pull a trigger. A second faster to lunge at with a knife. Or run off a road. Or hit over the head. Just one second. Even a millisecond if Jane was completely honest with herself could and did mean the difference between a perp going to jail or Jane never coming home.

She thought Maura understood the dangers. The risks. She had seen Jane through enough of her injuries to know what could happen. She had seen the results of Jane being off by just one second too many times not to at least listen to and understand Jane's concerns about kids. But the last time they tried talking about this Maura hadn't even wanted to listen. She insisted that they shouldn't allow fear to dictate their choices and then tried to point out that either was just as likely to get injured or die in an accident as Jane getting killed in the line of duty.

Jane looked at Maura who was looking at Jane. This was a complicated subject and Jane wasn't sure there was a perfect solution or even a right answer. "Maura, do you know what I did the last time we talked about this?"

"No," a simple answer but filled with curiosity.

"The last time we tried to talk about this, and failed miserably I might add, I spent time thinking that maybe you were right. You usually are right about most everything so how could I deny at least considering that you could be right about this too. So, I told myself that if I could get through six months without getting hurt or being in serious danger I would change my mind. I would reconsider and we could talk about kids."

"Jane…"

"I'm serious. I thought six months. That's nothing. That would pass so quickly. It would be over before I knew it. And maybe, just maybe we could avoid incident and issues. I mean, I was starting the Sergeant position. That was going to pull me from the field some. Not completely but some. That had to help the odds. I knew that. So, I started the countdown. Do you want to know how long we went before we ran into an incident?"

Maura was quiet for a minute. She was thinking. "Unless something happened to you that you didn't tell me about it's been 97 days since we last talked about kids. We had this Devin situation occur two days ago. So 95 days."

"95 days. I didn't make it more than halfway to the time frame I tried to set in my head. And I know it's completely arbitrary and completely subjective and probably completely unfair to you to put some timeframe or time limit on something that is this important. It was probably very foolish of me to put this to a test that may not really mean anything. But I was trying. Trying to find some way to make myself ok about giving you something you want. Something I know you deserve. But it's something that I'm not ready for and I'm sorry about that."

Jane had started to cry towards the end of her last statement. She didn't even realize she had started to cry until she felt a tear trickle past her lip.

Maura had been very quiet as Jane spoke. When she saw the tears, she immediately crossed the kitchen and embraced her wife. She had teared up too. She saw Jane was really trying to change how she felt. For her. But she wasn't there yet. Maybe she never would be.

She did understand Jane's concerns. She had them too. Her desire for a child was just stronger than her fears about losing Jane or the danger that did seem to accompany their life together. But she couldn't discount or disregard Jane's feelings. She would never force Jane into a situation she didn't want to be in. She would never demand a child if it wasn't something Jane wanted too.

What Jane had endured from Hoyt, Bobby Marino, her dealing with the mob and Doyle each one could have resulted in her death. Her injuries were all that serious and there were times that Maura knew she pulled through more from luck than anything else. And now there was Devin. A delusional schizophrenic now fixated on her. Jane, and maybe even herself, was in danger. Again. And Jane hadn't done anything this time except be a part of Maura's life.

Maura had no idea that Jane was trying to go six month without a major incident. She was right. It was completely subjective and completely arbitrary. It certainly wasn't a scientific test. Six months of no incidents would in no way guarantee a lifetime of safety. But at the same time, Maura understood what Jane was trying to do. She was trying to convince herself that her safety and the safety of her family could go without incident long enough to convince Jane that maybe they could make children work.

95 days. That didn't seem like very long at all. And maybe that was the problem. Maybe Jane had a point. Maybe they just weren't in a circumstance were bringing a child into their lives was the right thing to do. Maura knew she was going to at least have to consider that possibility. 95 days. That wasn't enough time. Not nearly enough time in between Jane's last stabbing and the danger that now loomed. Maybe Jane really, really did have a point.

"Jane, we don't need an answer to this right now. I'm sorry I even brought it back up. It's just, I think I finally understand your side of this. I can't discount that." She pulled back from her embrace and gently wiped the few tears still remaining on Jane's cheeks away with her thumbs. "And, I won't discard how you feel. I love you. I'll never want anything for us that we both don't want. Especially kids.

"I understand. I do. Let's table this discussion for another day. Preferably a day in which we are not being guarded by police and we both have a clear head. And Jane, no matter what I love you. I love our life together. We will decide what to do about kids together. I promise."

Jane pulled Maura back into an embrace and held her tight. Another tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. She knew she was still standing in the way of something Maura wanted but she didn't know if she could ever change her mind.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Buckle up folks…..the search for Devin is about to heat up….**

Chapter 16

Sometimes events happen in an instant without time for preparation or planning. First impressions during these events tend to be the most accurate and free of censorship or manipulation. Instincts, gut feelings and past experiences are sometimes the only available resources you are given to interpret such events. Learning to recognize important details in such a small window of time can end up being the difference between life and death.

The evening passed without incident. As morning dawned upon the Rizzoli-Isles house Jane chatted with the security detail after bringing them out fresh cups of coffee for their drives home. She was glad nothing had happened overnight but she felt bad that she pulled two very nice officers from midnights to just sit in a car all night long. Both officers didn't seem to mind but were clearly ready to head home.

Inside, Maura was finishing her morning routine. She still took twice as long as Jane to get ready in the mornings. By the time she made it down to the kitchen for a bagel and coffee she found both ready for her. Coffee to her liking. Bagel toasted and lightly buttered. She smiled at Jane's gesture. It really was the small things in life that made Maura happy. She took to eating the bagel as Jane was returning from dismissing the overnight guards.

"I take it they didn't see any action here last night," Maura said trying to keep the mood light.

"Not unless you count what I only assume was an interesting game of heads-up poker they were playing when I walked up to the car. But I can't really blame them. Security details can be rather boring."

"Maybe we will get lucky and find Devin today."

"I hope so. Besides not liking the fact that I appear to be a target, he has killed two teenage prostitutes and I really don't want to get called to the scene of a third one."

As if on cue, Jane's cell phone vibrated and buzzed on the kitchen counter. Picking it up she answered, "Rizzoli-Isles."

"Jane, Google had a hit on Sanders' IP address. I just got a call from one of the investigators. He logged onto his email at 7:05 am this morning." Jane looked at her watch, it was 8:15 am.

"Can they tell if he is still connected?"

"Yes they can tell. And no he is not. He didn't stay signed in long. 7:05 am to 7:21 am. But we have a perimeter location which is more than we had yesterday."

"How big of a perimeter?"

"We have it down to a five mile radius in Cambridge," Frost stated excitedly.

"Cambridge?" Jane stated. And then a voice turned her head.

"Jane! Did Frost say Cambridge?" Maura had a look on her face that Jane had seen before. The look she got when she figured something out.

"Frost, hold on a sec," Jane said into the phone and turned her full attention to Maura. "Yes, Frost says Devin logged onto a computer in Cambridge this morning for about 15 minutes. Google could trace the IP address to a five mile radius in Cambridge. Why?"

"Cambridge Jane. Harvard."

And it dawned on Jane too. Harvard. Sanders was a professor. Of course he would feel comfortable on a college campus. She pulled the cell phone back up. "Frost, any way to tell if the radius in Cambridge includes Harvard?"

"Harvard! I never thought….hold on, let me check." All three were quiet for a minute. Then Jane heard Frost's voice again. "Yes, the five mile radius does include Harvard. Jane, do you think he is hiding out on their campus?"

"I don't know if he is hiding out there but it appears that he certainly could be accessing a computer terminal somewhere on that campus. Where are you?"

"I'm at the station."

"Okay, fill in Cavanaugh and Korsak. We need to get Cambridge PD in the loop and let Cavanaugh work with them to decide if a campus wide alert should be issued. I wish we didn't have to but I think we need to. This guy is unstable and dangerous. He's killed two young females already and I don't like the idea of him parading around a college campus. So we may have no choice but to issue the alert. But that's not our call."

"Right. I'm sure Harvard security will need to know as well."

"I'm heading in with Maura. We can canvas the campus together after I get there. Hey, did Cooper come in?"

"Yeah, she got here this morning before I did. I think she wanted to play catch up on what she missed when you forced her to go home yesterday. She's a little pissed." There was a hint of amusement in his voice. "She looks good though Jane. No mobility issues with her arm so I wouldn't try to send her home again today if I was you."

"I think we will need all hands on deck here. I have a feeling we are in for a full sweep on a college campus. So, get working with Korsak and Cavanaugh and start the ball rolling. I want this guy Barry. This creep followed us to Italy. I want him off the streets."

"I'm on it. I'll see you in a few."

Jane turned to Maura and for the first time since she had discovered the wall in the warehouse she had hope that they may be able to catch Devin before he hurt anyone else, including herself or Maura.

"Excellent catch on the Harvard callout," she said with a smile and pride. Her wife was an exceptionally gifted woman.

"It makes sense. He is probably using his UCSF credentials to gain access to the campus. Jane, do you really think he would try to hurt any of the students?"

"Maura, he's delusional. I think he is capable of anything. I can guarantee you that Cambridge will issue a campus wide alert just to be on the safe side. And I think they should. I'd rather scare him off than have him hurt another girl. At least we may have a better idea where he may have moved himself to."

Maura nodded. She had already turned on her laptop and started typing to gain remote access to her work email account. She wanted to know if Devin sent an email back to her. After a few more clicks of a mouse, she was into her work email and sure enough, she had a response from Devin.

_To: Dr. Maura Rizzoli-Isles_

_From: DSanders75_

_Re: re: Wednesday_

_Maura, _

_My paper and the advancements are an entirely new paradigm. It's groundbreaking research and ideas that I believe you will fully understand and appreciate once you have had the chance to read through them. I regret that I am unable to send across a copy of the research at this time. The work is very confidential and I am currently concerned about people compromising my research and gaining unauthorized access to claim credit. I will, of course, have a hard copy of the project and research ready for your review at dinner tomorrow night. _

_I'm sorry if that turns our social dinner into a working dinner. Maybe it would be best if I meet your wife another time and we have dinner alone. I'm afraid I tend to carry on and on about my research and I just know I won't be able to help myself tomorrow. I'm sure your wife, a cop, would rather not listen to two Doctors chatting on and on all night about science and autopsies. I would not mind if you thought it best to not include her for this dinner. Please just let me know and I can change our reservation from three to just two._

_Devin_

Reading the email made Maura shutter. If she didn't know what was going on she wouldn't have been able to tell there was anything wrong with him from that email. Sincere, excited but just a little paranoid about having his research compromised. He sounded like a normal scientist happy about an experiment or a paper.

Jane read the email over Maura's shoulder. Usually Maura yelled at her for reading anything over her shoulder but she didn't even seem to notice this time. "Maura, reply back and agree to meet him alone tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Wait! You don't for even a second believe I'm letting you within 100 miles of that restaurant tomorrow night do you?"

"No, of course not. I meant are you sure I should reply back?"

"Oh, yes I'm sure. This may help us. If he thinks you may be replying back with an answer he may return to Harvard to check the account again sometime today. We may actually be able to catch him."

Maura nodded and quickly typed out a response.

_To: DSanders75_

_From: Dr. Maura Rizzoli-Isles_

_Re: Re:re Wednesday_

_Devin-_

_My wife will be disappointed not to get a chance to meet you but I agree that she will be bored if we spend our time discussing your research. She will understand if I have to go alone to meet you for dinner. I understand about your concerns for keeping your research confidential so I will just wait until tomorrow to review what you have managed to come up with. _

_Maura_

And after Jane read the email and approved, Maura hit send. She then hoped they would find and catch Devin today.

"Come on, let's head to the station," Jane nodded for the door. Maura went to grab her car keys and Jane shook her head. "No. We go together. Until Devin is apprehended I'm not taking my eyes off of you. I'll drive." Maura had no problem agreeing to that request.

As they headed out Jane thought about something. "Maura?"

"Yes?"

"You went to Harvard Medical School. You know the campus."

"Yes…"

"If you were a visiting professor with access to the buildings on campus and you wanted to use a computer to check your email, where would you go?"

Maura thought for a minute. "Widener Library. If he didn't know the campus that is the first place he would be directed to go with Professor credentials."

Jane was quiet for a second. "Check my bag, do I still have a photo of Devin with me?"

Maura checked Jane's workbag and found one of the flyers of Devin in her bag. "Yes, you do. Why?"

"Come on. He was at a computer just over an hour ago. I want to show his picture to the front desk workers before they forget or go to class or something. He was there right at 7 am so maybe someone will remember letting him in this morning. Let's check really fast before we lose any possible witnesses."

"Lead the way Sergeant Detective Rizzoli-Isles," she answered.

"Thank you, Dr. Rizzoli-Isles."

Frost and Cooper found Korsak in his office and got him up to speed. Frost explained that Jane thought the computer Sanders was accessing was on Harvard's campus and Maura thought he had Professor credentials to get access. Frost explained Jane wanted Cavanaugh to work with Cambridge PD to decide about a search and any possible alerts that may need to be issued.

"I'll call Captain Davis from Cambridge PD. I can guarantee you he will want to send a campus alert. I think he should," said Cavanaugh.

"Jane thinks so too. She knows it may spook Sanders but considering he has shown a liking for young females she isn't comfortable keeping this quiet. I think she wants all the girls to stay locked up in their rooms," Frost said.

Everyone nodded. Cavanaugh turned to Korsak, "Contact SWAT again. Let them know we may be called in to assist in a site by site perimeter search in Cambridge. Start coordinating our resources. I'm sure Davis will ask for help." And he walked out to start making calls.

Korsak looked at Frost and Cooper, "Get ready. We all will be heading that way as soon as Sean can get the ball rolling." He looked down at his watch, "Where's Jane?"

"On her way with Dr. Rizzoli-Isles," answered Cooper. "They were just heading out about fifteen minutes ago."

"Ok, head back and wait for Jane and as soon as I have details from Cavanaugh and SWAT I'll come get all three of you."

Frost and Cooper nodded and headed out back to the bullpen.

An hour later, Jane and Maura still hadn't made it to the station. And neither was answering their phones.

Frost and Cooper both knew something was very wrong.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"What do you mean you can't find them?" Sean was beyond exasperated.

"They aren't here, they aren't at the house and they aren't answering their phones." Vince couldn't be any clearer on either of those points. "The current whereabouts of Jane and Maura are unknown at this time."

It scared them all.

Cavanaugh looked at Frost. "What was the last thing she said to you on the phone?"

"That's she was heading in with Dr. Rizzoli-Isles and they would both be here in a few minutes."

"Nothing else? Nothing about stopping anywhere. Checking on anything? Coffee? Gas? Anything?"

"Not that she mentioned. I know that they stop for coffee at a Starbucks that's between here and the station from time to time but they usually get coffee from the Café." Frost looked dejected. And scared.

"Send a patrol car to the Starbucks they would have stopped at if they had stopped and let's see if they were there this morning." Korsak gave the order to a uniformed officer who took off to handle that.

"Ok, think people! I don't want to believe that this crazy just got to my best detective and our Chief Medical Examiner. Have you tried to trace their cell phone signals?"

Frost shook his head, "I tried but neither phone is turned on right now and phone GPS tracking requires phones to be at least powered on to ping from a cell phone tower."

"Well, what about all that stuff she put on the cars and Maura's cell phone when she thought the Mob was going to kidnap Maura? Can't we use any of that now?" He was desperate.

Again, Frost shook his head. "Unfortunately Jane removed everything once the case was closed. So no, we don't have any additional methods of tracking their whereabouts."

All four of them were quiet for a minute. All four were thinking. Cavanaugh finally spoke again. "Ok, release the BOLO for both Jane and Maura and their car. We will proceed on the assumption that both have been abducted by Sanders. Davis is coordinating with Harvard police but they are issuing a campus wide alert and they are going into lockdown until we can determine if Sanders is on campus.

"SWAT has already been dispatched to help. I want every available officer to head over to Cambridge to assist in the search. Every officer. Get them all in here. Our only shot at finding both Rizzoli-Isleses may very well be finding Sanders. Unless anyone can think of anything else I suggest we all head over to Cambridge and help with the search."

For a minute no one said anything. Sean thought that meant no one else had any other ideas on how to find Maura and Jane. He was about to dismiss the three detectives in front of him when one said something.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"This might be a crazy thought and a complete waste of time…"

"What is it? I'll consider anything at this point."

"Italy."

"What?" He hadn't meant he'd consider a foreign country.

"Italy. Sanders followed Sergeant and Dr. Rizzoli-Isles to Italy when they were on their honeymoon. One of the photos on the wall in the warehouse was from Venice."

"Yeah, ok?"

"Italy, Sir. How did he get there?"

All four were quiet again. All were starting to follow the crazy train of thought.

"I don't care who you are you can't get into a foreign country without a passport unless you have a private jet and there is nothing that suggests Sanders had any money for a private jet. So he had to have secured a flight to Italy with some sort of passport."

"I ran him. He's off the grid. No driver's license, no credit cards. No passport."

"Maybe not under the name of Devin Sanders. But he had to have bought a ticket and that would mean a name and maybe that name is on the grid. Maybe that's how we find out where he has been staying."

Slowly, Cooper's idea was gaining some momentum.

"We need Jane and Maura's honeymoon travel itinerary. We can request a passenger manifest for their flight to Italy. Maybe we can trace all the male passengers. To really know where those two went on their honeymoon maybe we will get lucky and he took the same flight. Stayed at the same hotel maybe. It's at least a place to start. Frost?"

"We can try. I don't think it's too much of a stretch. If I can get a possible alias maybe I find a hotel room, or car, or something that might tell us where he is."

"I'll call Frankie. He may still have Jane's itinerary in his email. He never files or deletes his emails and I know Jane sent him a copy of their complete itinerary in case there were any emergencies. She wouldn't give it to Angela for fear of phone calls and interruptions but she did forward it to Frankie. Frost, you can get flight numbers and hotel information from the itinerary," Cooper already had her phone in her hand and was calling Frankie.

It may be a longshot but it may be the best thing they had at the moment outside of a building by building search of Harvard University. Cavanaugh looked at Frost. "You and Cooper stay here and work this angle. Find out if Sanders was on that flight to Italy and what name he used. Korsak and I will go join the search at Harvard. Constant communication Frost. I want to know everything."

"Yes Sir."

Cavanaugh and Korsak headed out and Cooper rejoined Frost. "Frankie is forwarding you Jane's travel itinerary. He still had it. Barry, he's really worried."

"So am I. Come on. Let's get to work on this." They headed to the BRIC to run with this maybe lead. As they made their way there he added, "Riley very, very nice catch. Even if this doesn't work. Very nice catch." Riley wanted to smile but she was too worried about Jane and Maura. She would smile at the compliment later.

Devin looked over at both ladies. He felt bad for hurting Maura. Even if it was just temporary. It wasn't her fault that they had poisoned her mind. She wouldn't be held accountable for that. He was going to rescue her from that. He alone could save her from their influence. That's why he was here. To save her. Save her from them. So, it was forgivable if he had to hurt her just a little if it was for her own good. She would thank him in the end. He was sure of it.

Now, the cop. He didn't care that he had to hurt the cop. She was one of them. She was one of them who kept Maura from him. Turned Maura against him. Poisoned her against him. So, he could hurt the cop. He could kill the cop. It wouldn't bother him. She was nothing to him. Just an obstacle. Something to overcome. To get passed. He wouldn't lose any sleep if he had to hurt her more. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with her yet. He really didn't care.

Things had changed. He didn't like change. All of his planning had been for nothing. Now he had been forced to improvise. He didn't like that either. But he had things to do. He had to help free Maura. So he would improvise. He was smart enough. He would figure it out. He was smarter than them. They didn't know where he was. They wouldn't find him. They were looking for Devin. They wouldn't find him.

So he had time. Time to figure out what next. He shouldn't have pieced the plan together. He did better when he knew the whole plan. But those cops messed with that plan. He would have to figure out a new one instead. He started good. He got them. Got them both. He was smarter than them. Maybe not Maura. Definitely not Maura. But she was poisoned so she wasn't at her best. If she were at her best she would have come up with the whole plan easier than him could.

They had made it easy. They had travelled together. Together was easier. He proved that. He saw the cops outside. Like he would try to break in. He wasn't that stupid. Never in the house. But the car was different. The car was easier. People shouldn't leave cars outside. That's why they make garages. Leave your car outside and of course someone can sneak in. And who looks in the backseat of a car. Clearly they didn't. So he was smarter than them. He knew they wouldn't check the car.

He was surprised they went to Harvard this morning. He wondered about that. That might be the only thing that surprised him. But it didn't matter. He got to them both before they could get away. Before they could even scream. That's how smart he was. He would figure out how to handle the cop. For now, he turned his attention back to Maura. She should wake up soon. He wanted to be there for her when she woke up. She should know he was rescuing her. She will be so happy to see it is him. He knew it.

Frost and Cooper were working at a frantic pace. Emails and faxes were coming in at a fast pace. Frost had secured the passenger manifest from Jane and Maura's flight from Logan airport to San Marco airport. There were 119 passengers on the flight 62 of which were female. That left 57 male passengers to try to clear. Frost had requested the hotel records from the Luna Hotel Baglioni but he had to request assistance from the Guardia di Finanza to get the records. That would take some time.

As they were waiting for the hotel registry records, Frost and Cooper started going through the list of men. They started to pull up DMV records and tried to match general descriptions with that of Devin's. Cooper estimated Sanders to be in his mid-30s, six feet 180 pounds. As they worked down the list they were able to eliminate twenty more who were not Caucasian. Down to 37. Another eight were fifty five years or older and they were eliminated too. Down to 29. Frost did a quick scan and another ten had last names matching that of a female passenger and had a seat next to that female passenger. Frost took a leap of what he felt was common sense and eliminated any possible married couples. Down to 19. Based on DMV photos and descriptions, Cooper and Frost eliminated 11 more men that were not close to 6 feet 180 pounds.

They were down to eight possible names. Frost started running queries on the eight remaining names. But he really wanted to the hotel registry information. The Guardia di Finanza had emailed and assured Frost they would be able to send the registry within the hour. Frost and Cooper had done good job of weeding down the list to a manageable eight but they quickly found themselves at the mercy of waiting for reports, emails and faxes. They hated waiting. Time was ticking away and they could seem to stop it.

Frost called Cavanaugh. Neither had good news. Cambridge and Boston PD were going building by building searching for Sanders. But that was a slow process. And they hadn't found anything yet. Cavanaugh was encouraged to hear that the list was down to eight possible male passengers. That was something. But he knew Frost and Cooper were waiting for reports and emails and faxes. So both went back to what they were doing.

An hour later, Frost got the email of the Luna Hotel Baglioni for the time frame of Maura and Jane's stay. Frost frantically scanned down the list of registered guests. Finally, there it was. A name that matched one of the eight names from the flight passenger manifest. Brian Young. Frost pulled up the listed DMV records for Brian Young and the general descriptions could fit that of Sanders. Both Frost and Cooper assumed that Sanders had stolen the identity he may be currently using but to get use of a passport and driver's license he would have to at least be similar to height and weight.

Frost ran all kinds of queries. Searches for all hotels and motels in the Boston area. Searches for rental cars. All kinds of real estate searches. Anything he could think of that might give them real, tangible places to check. A start. A clue. Something. He was looking for anything registered to a Brian Young. He ran the credit card used to both purchase the airline ticket and pay for the hotel room in Venice. His anxiousness increased as the seconds ticked away waiting for results. Something. Anything. Some piece of information that may lead them to Jane and Maura. His friends.

Cooper paced. Time was ticking by too quickly for Jane and Maura. Too slowly for Frost and Cooper. How could time be both fast and slow. It didn't make any sense. But it was. There was a duality with time. Time was ticking away, slipping away for Jane and Maura. Each second seemed to come faster and faster. But, in the same realm, time was almost grinding to a halt for Frost and Cooper. Seconds and minutes dragged by and it seems like the hands on the clock were refusing to move. Unwilling to relent for a greater good. Time was cruel. Unfair.

Riley hadn't known Jane and Maura for as long as everyone else. But she considered them both to be friends. Future sisters-in-law if things continued to progress with Frankie. They could very well one day be family. They felt like family, like home, to her already. Sunday dinners at their home. She couldn't lose that. Frankie couldn't lose his sister. His hero. They had to find them. Time was running out.

And finally, something.

A rental agreement for a flat on Shepard St in Cambridge. Signed by Brian Young. Six months ago. The credit card used for the Italy trip was listed in the credit application. And a vehicle. A van. Registered to a Brian Young six months ago. Licensing fees paid for using the same credit card. An address and a vehicle with a license plate.

It was time to call Cavanaugh again.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Frost and Cooper were already in the car and leaving the station when Cavanaugh answered his phone.

"What do you have?" Cavanaugh asked.

"Brian Young. Name matches the credit card used to purchase the flight to Italy and the hotel room when Jane and Maura were there. He signed a lease for a flat in Cambridge on Shepard and I also have a van with plates."

"Alright. You and Cooper get here. Lights and siren Frost. Meet Korsak and I at the corner of Massachusetts and Chauncy."

"Yes Sir," he hung up and he thought the same two thoughts being shared by three other people at that moment. _Be there and don't let us be too late._

Maura let out a soft noise. It was a mix of a moan and a sigh. It was the first sign of stirring from her since Devin had brought her into the flat. She was slowly starting to come around. Devin had carried Maura in from the car and had placed her on the couch in the room that served as the main living space of the flat. He had gently placed her on the couch and tried to make sure she was comfortable. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable when she woke up.

And she was starting to stir. This made Devin happy. Maura was going to wake up soon and there were so many things they needed to talk about. He had so many things to show her. He just knew she was going to be amazed by his ideas. His discoveries. His dreams. He just knew he would be able to impress her.

He was a little anxious. She would be mad when she first woke up. He realized that. He hadn't wanted to hurt her or to restrain her but he knew she was poisoned and she wasn't thinking clearly. The restraints were for her own good. They were temporary. He wouldn't need to use them for too long. So, he was ready for her to be a little mad. He had ways of forcing the poison out of her. He would have to see to it that before he could share his discoveries with her. He didn't want her to judge him or his work when she was still under their influence. He was ready to get her to see the light.

For Maura it was like someone suddenly turned everything from off to on. Sound, sight, feel, all of her senses seemed to just come around at the same time. She went from nothing to everything in an instant and it was disconcerting and overwhelming. The sounds were loud. Too loud. But it was silence that was too loud. No voices. No talking. No actual sound of a person or people. But there was a ringing in her ears and that ringing was disorienting. Slowly the ringing started to subside but the ringing continued to be replaced by silence.

The darkness wasn't like anything she could remember experiencing before. Even in a darkened room there was always some shade of dark, shade of black, lighter than another. Some small way to start to get the eyes to adjust to the lack of light. But this darkness was different. It was just pitch black. And her eyes. She was aware of trying to open her eyes but for some reason she couldn't. Her eyelids would just not cooperate with her efforts to force them open to try to take in that which she couldn't see. She felt her eyes moving up and down, left and right but she couldn't get them to actually open so she remained submerged in a haze of darkness.

She felt herself becoming aware of her body. The sensations went from a heavy dead-like weight to a lighter but tingly feeling. She was becoming aware of her limbs, her muscles but didn't seem to have much control over those limbs and muscles yet. She tried to move but wasn't able to distinguish between an arm and a leg quite yet so no movement was possible. Slowly she was becoming aware that she was lying down as she was starting to be able to feel individual pressure points enough to know there was a consistency in the surface she was on that ran from head to toe.

It wasn't like waking up from a dream. It was more like coming around from sedation. Maura had enough surgical procedures to be able associate what all her senses were trying to signal to her brain as possibly being from sedation. Had she been hurt? She didn't remember being hurt. However, she didn't remember much of anything at the moment. But she was becoming more and more aware of herself and of her surroundings.

The silence was quieter. Still no clue from sounds but the silence wasn't as overwhelming as it had been just a few minutes prior. Her eyes were now picking up on light instead of dark which was much more reassuring that the darkness but she still couldn't seem to get her eyes to open. The sensations to her limbs were returning but as it did she felt resistance in her efforts to move her arms and legs. It felt as if her limbs were restrained in some manner but she could not as yet tell. But she was making progress. It was all becoming clearer.

And then suddenly, it was clear. She gained control over her limbs although she found she was in fact restrained from free movement. She gained control over her eyes and was able to open her eyelids and take in her surroundings. From nothing to disorientation to full awareness. It had happened very quickly. But, instead of any feelings of relief for regaining control over all her senses a new sensation swept through her and threatened to overwhelm her. For her brain was now processing what she senses were working overtime to convey to her.

She was staring into the eyes of Devin Sanders.

Frost and Cooper sped to their rendezvous location with Cavanaugh and Korsak in silence. There wasn't anything for either of them to say really. Both were mentally preparing themselves for what may soon lie ahead. Both were well aware that they were heading into a dangerous situation but neither cared about that. Both were worried about their friends. Both wanted nothing more than to find them and ensure that they were ok.

Cavanaugh grabbed Korsak as soon as he hung up from Frost. "They may have it. An address in Cambridge and a van."

Korsak nodded. "How do you want to play this?"

Cambridge, Boston and Harvard PD were only about halfway through clearing the campus buildings. The lockdown would stay in effect until all buildings were checked. But they had yet to find Sanders. All teams were also aware of the missing Sergeant and Doctor. But there was no sign of either in any of the buildings that had been cleared. Cavanaugh doubted that Sanders would be found on campus. But they needed to look. To double check.

"Cooper and Frost are meeting us at an intersection that's about two minutes from here. The teams need to continue the building search. But we are going to check out this flat. I need to tell Davis we are following up on a lead on our missing people. I don't want to pull resources from this search so we will check out the flat ourselves. Four against one. I can live with those odds."

Korsak watched Cavanaugh approach and speak with Davis. "Hold on you guys, the Calvary is coming."

Three minutes later Frost and Cooper pulled up to the intersection of Massachusetts and Chauncy. Both detectives were out of the car and in front of Cavanaugh in no time flat. The team of four all gave one collective nod signaling they all were in for whatever was about to go down at their target address.

"Ok, we are about four blocks from the address you found Frost." Cavanaugh was a Boston lifer and he knew even the streets of Cambridge like he knew the back of his hand. "The flat you found will have large picture windows in the main living area and in the kitchen so we cannot risk just pulling up in squads. We will proceed on foot. Two teams of two." He paused and looked at Frost and Cooper. "Do either of you have a problem with that?"

He was aware of Jane's concerns about their partnership relationship. He was aware that Jane was threatening to transfer them both out of Homicide. He wasn't aware of the exact details of the conversation that he knew Jane had had with each of them. He hoped they were working through their issues but he was not going to move into a dangerous situation with the two detectives in front of him if he thought for a second that they couldn't work together. It was a fair question to be asking them.

In unison, he received his answer. Both answered, "No, Sir!" And he knew they both meant it.

"Alright. Two teams of two. We will walk down opposite sides of the street until we get to the flat. Frost, Cooper you both will take the rear of the building. Korsak and I will take the front." He turned to his own squad car and then back to the three. "Everyone puts on the vest. Everyone." He directed that comment to Korsak, who was notorious for not wearing his Kevlar.

"Expect two stories and possibly a third. It depends on the exact building this address corresponds with. We start at the bottom and work our way to the top. From my understanding there has been no evidence that this nut job is working with a partner so we are looking for one very dangerous, very unstable male suspect and we are hoping we find Jane and Maura. Does anyone have any questions?"

No one had any questions.

"Let's head out." All four stopped only long enough to grab vests from two squad cars. Vests situated, all four headed towards the flat they all hoped held Jane and Maura.

Maura didn't know how to respond to looking back at Devin. She couldn't get her mind to piece together how it was that she was where she was at. She didn't even know where it was that she was at. But she knew she was in trouble. She was restrained. Both her wrists and ankles were bound together with Duct tape. She was grateful that her wrists were bound in front of her and not behind her. That gave her a better sense of balance. She didn't like that she was lying down on a couch but she was unsure if she should attempt any effort to move.

Her eyes darted around the room she was in. She strained to take in everything she could. Surroundings, windows, doors, furniture, possible exits, possible weapons. She knew she needed to take the mental inventory of where she was at and what was around her. But her eyes were looking for something else, too. Something more important to Maura than an exit or a weapon. Her eyes were looking for any sign of Jane. But, none was found.

She hadn't tried to speak and wasn't really sure if she should try. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had been out. She didn't even have an idea of how long she was been awake and looking around. She was so disoriented that she couldn't get a grasp of time. Finally, however, Devin broke the silence.

"Are you comfortable? Or would you like help sitting up?"

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to try to fight and escape. But she wanted Jane more. She needed to know where Jane was. And to get that information she knew she couldn't scream. Or run. Or try to escape. Her mind understood that her best chance of finding out what was going on with Jane would be to play into Devin's delusion as best she could. Instinct and understanding were slowly starting to take over Maura's thoughts. She knew he was delusional. He was dangerous and unstable. But she also understood that if she played a part in his delusion that may be something she could leverage. She knew she now needed to play along.

"I'd like to sit up please," it was the first words she had spoken since she came to. She was startled by the sound of her voice. It was oddly stable, strong and unlike how she was truly feeling inside.

Devin slowly approached and gently helped Maura go from the horizontal position to sitting up. It didn't escape her attention that he was deliberate and gentle in his handling of her. That could play in her favor. It helped confirm that she was a central part of his delusion and that he was not likely to strike out in anger if she could perpetuate the delusion.

"Thank you Devin," again in a slow, calm and deliberate tone.

Her confident tone and the fact that she had not started to scream or cry or get angry with him made Devin happy. Maybe she wasn't as poisoned as against him as he thought. Maybe this would be easier than he expected. He hoped so. The faster she accepted him the faster he could start sharing his work with her. That's what he wanted. He wanted to share everything with her. He was finally going to get the chance.

Maura proceeded slowly needing to test the water. "Devin, is this really necessary?" and she indicated the restraints on her wrists and ankles. "I find it rather uncomfortable." And she stared at him to take in his reaction.

He felt bad. She was uncomfortable and it was his doing. He was sorry for that. But he had done it for a reason. "I'm so sorry Maura. But you aren't free yet. They still have part of you. I can't do anything about those until you are free. I'm sorry."

Maura wasn't sure she understood what she needed to be freed from but it was an opening. "Who are 'they' Devin? Who has a part of me?"

Devin looked like she had asked the silliest question. "You know the answer to that already. You know everything. But don't worry. I'm going to fix you. I'm going to free you from them. And then we can finish my project. We can do it together. You'll be so excited to see what I've done so far. You'll be very proud of me."

"I am proud of you Devin. I am. And I want to help you with your project. I do." She paused before taking a risk. "Can Jane help us too?" It was a risk to ask but Maura had to get some sort of information about Jane, even if it was just to see Devin's reaction to hearing Jane's name.

Devin was angry. "No! She's not like us! She's one of them. She can't know about my project!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you," Maura tried to back out of the questioning without making him more upset.

Her apology calmed him back down. "It's ok. You didn't know she was one of them. They didn't tell you. I know you wouldn't have married her if you had known she was one of them. But, you don't need to worry about that anymore. I've taken care of that. Of her."

And everything for Maura stopped.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Time really is a funny thing. It doesn't seem to matter that it is constant. It doesn't seem to matter that it ticks by at the same rate, the same pace for everyone. Equally. It doesn't seem to matter that it is never impacted by outside factors, never swayed by the events it measures. It just doesn't seem to matter about time itself. Time is not to blame.

What matters is perspective. That's what is fluid. That's what sways events to be seen as either good or bad. That's what determines the speed that time is interpreted. And perspective is personal. And individual. And influenced by everything. History, choices, participants, location, desired outcome, emotions, motivation. Everything.

Ask six different people to describe an event and you will get six different answers. Maybe not big differences. But there will be differences. Because you are asking for six different perspectives of the same event. And perspective is personal. And perspective determines how every second of every day is perceived. It's not time that changes from person to person. It's perspective.

Perspective is how something as simple as moving four blocks down a street in Cambridge, Massachusetts would be interpreted differently by four Boston police officers. It's the same four blocks for the four. It's the same time frame for the four. But the experience of something even as simple as jogging four blocks to a designated location would be different for each of the four. Cavanaugh, Korsak, Frost and Cooper all would perceive the events that were about to play out differently, individually.

For Frost and Korsak, the trip down the street to the flat took too long. Both would later believe they should have run faster or talked less or not stopped to put on the Kevlar. For Cooper, the trip was the right pace. They covered the four blocks quickly and she was ready to take on whatever lurked in the flat and find the missing Sergeant and Doctor. For Cavanaugh, the trip was too fast. He was a planner. He hated going into this without a well-defined plan but he understood that time wouldn't allow for more than what was already given. He believed time was running out.

Regardless of how each of the four would later perceive the trek down the street to the flat on Shepard, they made the journey and arrived at their target. Frost and Cooper took to the back of the flat and Cavanaugh and Korsak took to the front. It was quiet. All four would later reminisce about the lack of noise. No street traffic. No amble snippets of conversations. Almost no sound at all. Or maybe there was but all four wouldn't recall any sounds later.

All four had entered buildings for sweeps before. All four had extensive experience with executing searches and warrants that played out similar to what they were about to do. But this time, this time it felt different. Felt different for all four of them. Because this time it wasn't a perp they were looking to arrest for a crime against some poor, unknown victim. This time is was personal. They were searching for friends. For family. And the perp wasn't the focus of their attention. The perp was an obstacle they had to overcome but not the end goal. The end goal was to find their friends.

Ask each of the four how long it took from the moment they arrived at the flat until the entire situation was seen to its conclusion and, again, you would get four distinctly different answers. Not in a measure of time. They would all later agree that from start to finish the incident at the flat took no more than ten minutes. But that was the official answer. The answer for the reports. For the files. That would be the answer none of the four really cared about.

The answer about how each perceived what occurred in those ten minutes that's where four different answers would come from the four players of this saga. Two teams of two. Two sets of perspectives. One set an entry into the flat from the front. One set an entry into the flat from the rear. But all four would end up in the main living room area and all four would be witness to how the incident played out. What each took away, what each focused in on and held on to and would remember when someone would ask about what happened that would be different for each of the four.

And there would be a fifth perspective. That perspective would be uniquely different from the four detectives. The fifth perspective would be from one half of the duo being searched for. A perspective not from a rescuer but from one in need of being rescued. That would make all the difference in how Maura would perceive and remember what occurred inside the flat after the four detectives made their presence known.

From an outside and neutral perspective, the actions the four took to enter and secure the flat were text book. It would have made a great training exercise for the academy on handling a potential hostage situation. Entry into the living area where the two teams would find Maura and Sanders occurred simultaneously for the two teams. Front and rear covered with stealthly grace and ease. Two teams of two were able to enter into the living area with guns drawn. Two teams of two moving at just the right pace with just the right sense of urgency to close the gap between themselves and Sanders.

Two teams of two that masterfully gave the startled Sanders concise, confident and loud verbal commands giving every indication that Sanders was no longer in control of the present situation. One team of two moving so fast that Sanders found two Boston detectives wedged between himself and the restrained medical examiner before he was even aware that his contact, his control over Maura was about to be permanently broken.

In less than a minute, the scene in the living area of the flat was over. Sanders never stood a chance. Empirically it had been four against one. Less than sixty seconds to take a delusional murder suspect into custody. The swiftness and rhythm in which the four detectives handled the scene was rather impressive.

One half of the missing duo was saved with relative ease. But ask any of the five about what happened in the seconds after all understood that Sanders was in custody and no longer an obstacle to be focused on and you will get five different answers as well. Again, perspective. How long it took for Korsak to remove the Duct tape restraining Maura's hands and wrists, how long it took for all five to fully understand that Sanders was detained and how long it would take for all five to realize that they did not know where the missing Sergeant was would all be a matter of individual perspective.

Some were there quickly. Some it would take a moment longer. But all five would arrive at the same realization. They didn't know where Jane was.

How quickly panic would set in, how quickly fear would be acknowledged, how quickly police instincts would kick back in and a full and fast search of the entire flat would begin would again depend on perspective. But the search would start. Backup would be called. The flat was searched with speed. But Jane was still not found.

From the time Sanders was detained until the time Frost would remember the one piece of information that would solve the mystery of where Jane was technically was only four minutes. But, what occurred for each of the five people in that flat during those four minutes would again come down to perspective. Five people looking for one person and all five would remember those four minutes distinctly different.

Frost. In the end he figured it out. Somehow the notion of the van Sanders had secured finally drifted through his mind. If you asked him he would tell you it took too long. But he would be the only one of the five that thought it took too long. The other four would just be grateful the thought came when it did. The van. Found parked in the alley behind the flat. Found as soon as Frost had the thought of the van float through his head.

And found inside the van: Sergeant Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles. Unconscious. Restrained. Injured. But alive.

Four people went running to that van once Frost remembered. Cavanaugh stayed behind to guard Sanders. Three detectives ran to the van because that's what they do and their friend was in trouble. One doctor ran to the van because her love, her life might be in that van and that's where she needed to be. Four people found and opened the door to the van and found their missing friend, wife, family. But ask any of the four about that moment. The moment the van door opened and they saw Jane for the first time. You will again get four different answers.

It's not time. It's perspective. It's always a matter of perspective.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Maura was the first one to touch her. She felt quickly for a pulse. Weak. Thready. But there. That was enough for the moment.

"Frost, get an ambulance here now!" she turned her head from Jane only long enough to get that out.

Maura climbed the rest of the way into the van and gently started to look Jane over. She was breathing but her respirations were shallow. She was unresponsive. Her stillness scared Maura. Maura tried to concentrate on assessing her wife's injuries.

"Riley, can you find me something to cut off the Duct tape?"she asked as she wanted to free Jane from the tape that bound her wrists and ankles. Looking down at the tape she suddenly felt what it had been like for her own wrists and ankles to have been similarly bound and she didn't want Jane waking up restrained. Riley nodded and left to get something.

Maura returned her attention to Jane. She gently ran her hands over Jane's head and neck trying to feel for any wounds. She didn't feel any contusions. She also ran her hands up and down Jane's arms and legs and also didn't feel any broken bones. There were no visible signs of injuries.

She gently lifted Jane's eyelids to look at her pupils. She didn't have a light to flash but she got a sense of their reaction to just the opening of the eyelids. Equal but unreactive. Maura, knowing how she felt when she first came to, believed that Jane was also drugged and sedated. There wasn't anything else she could do but wait for the ambulance.

She situated herself so she was seated but leaning up against the side of the van's inner wall. She pulled Jane into her and wrapped her arms around her. She whispered into Jane's ear.

"I've got you. You're safe. We both are." She would continue to whisper this until the EMTs arrived and she had to release Jane and get out of the way so they could attend to her.

By this time Cavanaugh, Korsak, Cooper and Frost were all standing watch over the van. They didn't interrupt Maura's time with Jane but they wouldn't leave the area. All four continued to stand guard until the EMTs arrived. Jane was quickly placed on a gurney and readied for transport to Mass General. Maura was going to ride in with Jane. As they were being loaded into the bus, Cavanaugh approached.

"We are right behind you," and he turned his attention to one of the EMTs. "Dr. Rizzoli-Isles was also injured. Possibly drugged and injured. Please make sure she is attended to as well."

Maura went to protest but Cavanaugh cut her off, "That's not an option Doctor. Once you are sure that Jane is getting looked after, you need to be seen as well." Maura was starting to feel the effects of her ordeal return as the adrenaline had faded from her body so she merely nodded and didn't protest any further. Maura situated herself in the ambulance and wove her hand through Jane's. She wouldn't release Jane's hand until they arrived at the emergency room and the ER doctors took Jane away to be treated.

The EMTs must have radioed ahead about Maura's need for medical attention because a second set of nurses and a doctor was waiting for her as well. She wouldn't let any of them touch her until she had watched Jane be wheeled completely out of sight. Only then did she turn to allow the nurses to start to attend to her. Before she could be directed into a room, Maura's grip on her senses faltered and she collapsed.

Cavanaugh and Korsak as well as Frost and Cooper were two minutes behind the bus to the hospital. All four entered the emergency room area. Cavanaugh looked at Korsak. "I need to call Angela."

Korsak nodded. "Frankie is already on the way. He was able to break off from a sweep team at Harvard. I'll call Constance."

Frost chimed in, "I'll call Tommy." The men all stepped away to make the notification phone calls. Riley was left in the emergency room waiting area. Pacing. Waiting for word on Maura and Jane. Waiting for Frankie. Waiting.

An hour later one of the attending physicians walked into the waiting room to update the families. "Rizzoli-Isles?" he called out as he entered the family waiting area. He was a little surprised at the number of heads that lifted and people who answered.

Angela stepped forward. "We are all family in this room Doctor. I'm Jane Rizzoli-Isles' mother and this," she indicated to Constance who had stood and moved next to Angela, "is Maura Rizzoli-Isles' mother. Tell us how our daughters are."

The Doctor nodded. "Dr. Rizzoli-Isles is stable. She had a vasovagal syncope episode when she first presented in the ER…"

Angela turned to Constance, "Fainted," and then turned back to the Doctor who had a small grin on his face.

"Dr Rizzoli-Isles did faint when she was first brought in. She is conscious and alert and we expect a full recovery. She was administered a powerful sedative, Propofol. Unfortunately there is no counteragent for Propofol so the drug will need to continue to work itself out of her system on its own. It doesn't appear that her dose was enough to have any long term side effects and her blood panels and gases all look good. We don't expect any further complications and she should be released tomorrow."

Constance smiled at this and the room full of people were all happy that Maura was going to be ok.

"And Jane?" asked an anxious Angela.

"Sergeant Rizzoli-Isles is stable but still unconscious. We believe she also received a Propofol injection but her dose was significantly higher than that of Dr. Rizzoli-Isles. We are also worried that her injection was possibly mixed with a second drug, an opioid that is compromising her respirations. We are administering Narcan but that won't reverse the Propofol. Unfortunately we are going to have to wait for Sergeant Rizzoli-Isles to wake up on her own.

"We are monitoring her blood gases closely and she is receiving oxygen to help with respiratory depression. There doesn't appear to be any other injuries. While we don't know exactly when Sergeant Rizzoli-Isles will regain consciousness we anticipate a full recovery for her as well."

A collective sigh was heard in the room. It sounded like both ladies were going to be ok. "Can we see them?" asked Angela.

The doctor looked at Constance. "You can see Dr. Rizzoli-Isles now. In fact, I may need your help keeping her in her bed. She's demanding to see her wife but I'd like her to stay in bed for a little while longer." He turned to Angela. "Sergeant Rizzoli-Isles is being moved to ICU just as a precaution until she regains consciousness but you should be able to see her in about twenty minutes."

The entire room thanked the doctor and the tension he had walked into seemed to dissipate. Constance turned to Angela, "Would you like to come see Maura with me?" She knew Angela was just as worried about Maura as she was Jane and also thought it would help give Angela something to occupy her until she could see Jane.

Angela was touched by the offer. And she agreed. Both women considered the other's daughter as family. The doctor took both matriarchs to see Maura.

The rest of the waiting room occupants- Frankie and Riley, Tommy and Stacey, Cavanaugh, Korsak and Frost all lingered and chatted. The mood lighter knowing that both Jane and Maura were going to be ok. Cavanaugh stepped out to inform the precinct that both Rizzoli-Isleses were going to be okay and to check on the booking status of Sanders. Frankie wanted the details on what had happened and Riley filled him in as best she could. Tommy and Stacey listened in on Frankie and Riley's conversation. Korsak and Frost sat chatting idly. The men in the room had practice sitting and waiting in hospitals for Jane.

Maura was unhappily in bed as Constance and Angela entered the room. Seeing both of her mothers walk into the room together lightened her mood tremendously. Both women went straight over to her and took turns hugging.

"Sweetheart, are you really ok?" asked Constance. She needed to hear it from Maura and not a doctor she didn't know.

"Mother, I'm fine. I just want to see Jane but the doctor won't tell me her room number. He thinks I need to say in bed. What I need is to see my wife." She didn't try to hide her exasperated tone.

"Honey, she's being moved to ICU. Just as a precaution." Angela added the precaution statement to try to reassure Maura. "We haven't even seen her yet."

"She's not conscious yet. That's scaring me. They don't know how much Propofol Devin injected her with and they think he also mixed in an opioid. I'm worried about her oxygen levels."

"Maura, the doctors seem confident that she is going to be fine. She's just going to wake up when the drugs work out of her system. Please don't worry. You need to rest." Constance tried getting Maura to lay back into the bed.

"I need to be with Jane. I need to be there when she wakes up." Maura turned to Angela this time. "Angela, you know Jane and what she's already been through. You know she will need me there when she wakes up."

Angela looked back at Maura and knew she was right. Emotionally if Maura was not in the room when Jane came to it would be devastating. "How do you feel? Truthfully how do you feel?"

"I'm a little tired, my head is a little cloudy but otherwise I'm fine. The Propofol Devin injected me with is almost out of my system. Angela. Angela please. I need to be with Jane."

Angela nodded. "They told me she would be in her room in twenty minutes. We will get you there." She looked over at Constance who seemed to understand and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. I have to be there when she wakes up." Maura squeezed Angela's hand as reassurance. "Angela, I am sorry."

"For what?"

"Devin. He was after me. This is all my fault," her voice trailed off.

"Maura, stop that. From what I've been told this guy is mentally unstable. You didn't do anything to be sorry for. This is not your fault." Angela's tone was definitive and it made Maura feel a little better.

Twenty minutes later Angela wheeled Maura into Jane's room. The doctor had lost the fight about keeping Maura in bed. He never stood a chance against two mothers. Maura didn't even have to match medical wits with him, she just let Constance and Angela loose on him. Five minutes with them and the doctor had personally brought the wheelchair to Maura's room.

Maura would never be fine with the sight of Jane in a hospital bed. She had seen it too many times. And it never got easier. She looked peaceful. Like she was sleeping. But Maura wanted nothing more in that moment but for Jane to be awake.

She had Angela wheel her closer to the bed and she grabbed Jane's chart. She flipped through the results of the battery of medical tests that had been run and she looked at the monitors for additional reassurance. The test results all confirmed what the doctor had told Maura. Jane was out of danger but subject to waking only when the Propofol had worked itself out of her system.

Maura re-explained Jane's status to Angela and Constance. Hearing from Maura that Jane was going to be alright made Angela feel better. It wasn't that she didn't trust the doctor. It was that she trusted Maura more. She knew if there was anything wrong, anything at all, Maura would tell her. Her daughter was going to be ok.

Maura moved from the wheelchair to the chair right next to Jane's bed. She took Jane's hand in hers and she waited. Waited for her wife to wake up.

Five hours later, Maura felt Jane's fingers slowly start to flex underneath her grip. She tightened her grip on Jane's hand and leaned forward so she could whisper into Jane's ear.

"Come back to me Jane."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

_As she parked the car, she couldn't help but think back to her first time. She was six years old. Half her excitement was simply the fact that she was getting to do something alone with her Pop. She loved Frankie but sometimes it was just really neat to do something with her father as just the two of them. Tommy was just a baby so he wouldn't have been able to come along anyway. No, this time it was just Frankie that had to stay home and be jealous that she got to go. That added to the excitement of the moment too._

_It was a birthday present. Something for just the two of them. And as the day drew closer and closer her anticipation also grew. She was beginning to understand that this was something special. Something that she would remember for a long, long time. The day couldn't get here fast enough. As an added bonus, she got to miss a day of school. That didn't please her mother but because it was a special occasion her Ma didn't keep her from going. She was only missing one day of first grade._

_And finally, the day had come. She was up early. She really didn't sleep the night before. She was too excited. Too anxious. So, as the sun had barely broken across the sky, she had excitedly run down the hallway and into her parent's room. She dove onto the bed and practically screamed that today was the day. A morning wake up greeting that thrilled her father but annoyed her mother. Although to this day she was convinced she saw a smile on her mother's face when she was bouncing up and down on the bed excitedly._

_There hadn't been any reason to be up at dawn. They didn't need to be anywhere that day until 1 pm. But the excitement was more than she could take and there was just no way to contain that kind of energy in a small bedroom. Her Pop understood. In fact, he had actually planned for this contingency. He had an agenda for the day to keep them both busy until it was to start._

_First, he took her to breakfast. She had thought that was the neatest thing in the world. She had never had breakfast at a restaurant before. Lunch and dinner sure. But not breakfast. Breakfast you ate at home. But not that day. That day she got to have a special breakfast with her Pop at a place called Denny's. She had scrambled eggs, toast and orange juice. Her Pop had pancakes and coffee._

_Next, Pop took her to the park to play. He had hoped that she would run off some her excited energy but it seemed to be limitless on that day. But, she had fun at the park. All the older kids who usually hogged all the good swings and slides were in school. She felt like she had the run of the park. Like it had been reserved for just her and her Pop. That portion of the day, breakfast and the park, would have been enough to make her 6__th__ birthday one of the absolute best ever. But she hadn't even gotten to the best part of the day. Not yet._

_Finally, it was time to go. They grabbed their gear and headed out. She could barely contain her excitement. She practically bounced out of her seat more than a few times during the drive there. That was back in the days when you didn't even to think of using a seat belt for a drive. On that day it probably would have helped contain the bundle of excitement that was Jane Rizzoli._

_As soon as her Pop parked the car and they started to walk she was enthralled. All of her senses were overwhelmed. Sight, sound, smell all working overtime to process what she was seeing. There were hundreds, no thousands of people. Her Pop even reached down to take her hand so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. The crowd. A sea of red all moving towards what she initially mistook as just an old warehouse building. That was until they got through the entrance and inside. Once inside, she knew it wasn't an old building. She knew she was at Fenway. For the very first time._

_Her Pop took her towards their seats and she was almost overwhelmed by the size. Of everything. It was all so big. The grass was a shade of green she didn't think she had ever seen before. The brown of the dirt wasn't what the dirt at her house looked like. The people were everywhere. Everyone, including her and her Pop, wearing Red Sox shirts and hats. To this day she still remembers the contrast between the red of the people to the brown of the dirt to the green of the grass._

_It hadn't been about the game itself that day. She would fall in love with the team and the sport as time passed and she watched and went more. That day, her first day, it had been about taking in the experience of being at a Red Sox game. Sights, sounds, smells. There was nothing else in the whole world like it. She could still make out some of the exact details from that day if she closed her eyes and concentrated really hard._

_And besides the experience that was Fenway Park, it had been about spending a perfect day with her Pop. Just him and just her. Together. He was like an excited kid that day at Fenway too. He took in her reactions to everything. Smiling the biggest grin she would ever remember him smiling. He tried explaining everything to her. The Green Monster, the 'Triangle', 'Williamsburg', 'Pesky's Pole' all in an attempt to help create a mystique about the ballpark for his daughter. He had wanted the stadium to feel magical. And he had succeeded._

_So much of that day would come flooding back to her when she would let it. Times when she was at another game she could still sometimes close her eyes and remember seeing the stadium for the first time. The day had been one of perfection and it would always go down as one of her favorite memories ever. So, it was no surprise to her that she was thinking about that day again on this day._

_Parking the car she absentmindedly stared out the window. She let the feelings sweep over her. But this time, this time it was just a little different. This time was going to special too. But this time it was going to be special for an entirely new reason._

_She turned her head and looked over at her passenger. A smile she privately knew matched that of the smile her Pop had on his face those 38 years earlier was plastered on her face. "Are you ready?"_

_The overly excited six year old boy with the Red Sox hat that was about two sizes too big for his head but he insisted wearing it anyway looked up with such excitement in his eyes and answered, "Yes Ma, I'm ready." Jane knew she was going to experience the other side of her son's first time at Fenway. The parent's side. And she felt like a kid again._

The funny thing about time is that occasionally it can be used to glimpse the future. For sometimes, when time stops the dreams begin.

"Come back to me Jane."

She heard it. And she immediately recognized the voice. Maura. Maura was trying to talk with her. Concentrating on the voice she waited to see if it really was Maura she was hearing.

"Wake up Jane. I need you to wake up."

Definitely Maura's voice. Jane knew there was not a sound on this Earth that sounded better than the one that was whispering into her ear. She focused on the task at hand. She focused on trying to open her eyes. Slowly, her eyes started to flutter open.

Everything was bright and fuzzy the first few times she tried to keep her eyes open. Too painful, she let her eyelids close. She waited a second and would try again. It took several more attempts before she could open and keep open her eyes. And slowly the world, the room, came into focus.

And Jane's eyes focused in on the most beautiful face she would ever know. Jane's eyes finally came into focus on the beautiful but worried face of her wife.

"Jane, hey. It's ok. You are ok," her voice was repeating that a few times.

"Maur….." Jane's voice was small, gruff at first. She swallowed and tried again. "Maura?"

Maura leaned and gently kissed her. Her forehead, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her lips. The sensation of Maura's lips anywhere on her body both grounded Jane and helped snap her awake at the same time. Maura's touch always had such a magical effect on her.

"Hi," she said after her trail of kisses was coming to an end. She still had Jane's hand in hers. Had held it for over five hours and had no intention of letting it go quite yet.

Jane looked around and knew she was in a hospital. She just didn't remember why. "What…what happened?"

Maura didn't quite know where to start. She wasn't sure about several things herself and she didn't know what Jane did or didn't remember. "What's the last thing you can remember?"

Jane was quiet for a minute. She closed her eyes to try to think. Her head was fuzzy and she couldn't remember much. And then, "We were going to Harvard. Devin. Devin!" She said his name with a level of anxiety and she tried to sit up only to be met with Maura's resistance and her arms pushed her shoulders back down into the bed.

"Shhh! Relax Jane. Devin is in custody. We are both ok. Relax."

Jane looked around and again closed her eyes. She couldn't remember anything more than thinking they had been about to drive to Harvard. And everything else was just black. "How long?"

Maura understood that Jane was asking how long she had been out. "Most of the day the best I can tell. Like you, there are some gaps in my memory right now. But I would say about 10 hours."

Jane looked concerned and confused by the fact that Maura too was having memory issues. What the hell had happened to them? "Maura? Are you ok?"

"I've been checked out and I'm fine. No one else has been hurt."

"Tell me what you remember," Jane had some desperation in her voice. She needed to know what had happened.

Maura understood Jane well enough to know she did need to fill in the blanks as best as she could. So she recapped the day that she remembered starting from admitting that she, too, only remembered heading out to Harvard and then nothing until she came to on the couch in Devin's flat. She explained that Cavanaugh, Korsak, Frost and Cooper had all shown up in time and rescued her and apprehended Devin and how it was Frost that found Jane in the van. She explained about the Propofol and insisted that she had received less than Jane and was fine. And she assured Jane that Jane was fine, too.

Jane looked around the room. She hated black outs. They were disconcerting. "Does Ma know I'm here?"

Maura nodded. "Both the mothers are here. Together. Coffee run. And I think this time we are both in trouble," she offered trying to lighten the mood.

"Is Ma mumbling about my job and how it will be the death of her again?"

"I'm afraid so. And she's got Constance mumbling a version of that sentiment now too."

"If you look tired enough, you'll avoid the big lecture for a little while," she said with a smile. After a second she looked at Maura. "He's in custody?"

"Yes."

"And no one else got hurt?"

"No one else Jane."

"And you are sure you are ok?"

"I'm fine now that you are awake."

That put a smile on Jane's face. Looking up at Maura, Jane slide over in the bed and Maura immediate climbed up and into bed with her. They engulfed each other in a tight embrace and just held each other. Neither feeling the need to speak. Both lost in the sensation of being in the other's arms.

About fifteen minutes later the door to Jane's hospital room opened and both Angela and Constance walked in. Both were pleased at the sight that greeted them. Jane and Maura were curled into each other on the bed which was a sweet sight to behold. But what meant even more to them both was that Jane was awake.

"Janie! You're awake. Are you ok? How do you feel? Do you need anything?" Angela's questions went flying fast and furious at Jane.

It made Jane smile. It meant things were getting back to normal. "Yes, I'm awake. Yes, I'm ok. I feel fine except my head is a little fuzzy." And she looked down at the woman in her arms, "And I have everything I need right here."

Hearing this, Maura squeezed her tighter.

The four women spent the next hour together. Maura and Jane sat up but Maura wouldn't get out of Jane's bed. Constance and Angela took the chairs and all chatted about anything and everything except what had put both Jane and Maura in the hospital in the first place.

Eventually a nurse announced that visiting hours were ending soon and started to make reference to Maura returning to her own room. Maura wanted to stay with Jane but because it was the ICU she wasn't going to be allowed. Begrudgingly Maura finally got up to head back to her own room. She leaned in for a kiss from Jane and then Constance offered to wheel her back to her room.

Angela was about to head out for the night but Jane asked her to stay behind for a minute. Once Maura and Constance were gone Jane motioned for Angela to sit down.

"Ma? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Jane stared at her mother for a minute. "Maura wants kids."

Angela stared back at Jane. That wasn't a question. And she already knew that. So, she waited for Jane to get to what she wanted to ask.

"I can't go more than three months without ending up in a hospital bed. How am I supposed to agree to have kids when I can't guarantee I'm going to be around to help her raise them?"

"Sweetheart, is that what you are worried about?"

"I'm absolutely terrified. My job is dangerous. Maura and I seem to attract danger and trouble. How is bringing a child into that kind of life, this kind of life, how is that the right thing to do?"

"Jane, no one can make any kind of guarantee when it comes to the future. Your father and I didn't have dangerous jobs when we had you and the boys but neither one of us could guarantee the other that nothing would happen. No one can. Yes, you do have a dangerous job. And yes, you have endured more than your fair share of injury and trauma. But you are still here.

"You will never be able to promise Maura nothing will happen to you. You will never be able to promise her that you won't leave her alone. Just like she will never be able to promise that to you. No one can make that kind of promise. But that's no reason not to live your life to the fullest. You can't shy away from life, from your future, because you are afraid of dying. The only promise you can make to Maura is to love her and that you will do everything you can to come home to her and your family every night."

"Will that be enough?"

"Trust me Jane, that's more than enough."

**A/N Only 1 more chapter remains for this story. It will be ready by tomorrow. **


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Friday morning Jane found herself at her desk trying to get caught up on the paperwork from the week. She had only missed two days of work but somehow she was absolutely buried in paperwork. She hated paperwork. She had the urge to sneak down to the morgue to see Maura but she was desperately trying to resist her favorite procrastination exercise. She needed to get all of the work done if she wanted to be able to enjoy a quiet weekend with Maura. She was not going to get forced to work on a Saturday unless there was a body involved. Plus, she needed to get home tonight early and wouldn't be able to stay late to finish. It was crunch time so she attacked the next report on her pile.

About two hours of reports, interviews and photographs later, Jane's attention was grabbed by Korsak. "Jane, my office when you have a minute."

She nodded in his direction and would finish filling in some of the boxes on the report she was working on before she got up and headed into Korsak's office. "What's up, Lieutenant?" again smiling knowing it was going to annoy him.

"Damn it Jane, stop that. How many times do I have to tell you that you calling me Lieutenant is just too formal?"

"Respect the man. Respect the title. I happened to do both. Get used to it, Lieutenant," and while joking she was completely sincere in what she had said.

Her reply threw him for a second and he couldn't think of anything to say. So, he just went on. "Cavanaugh wants to know what you are going to do about Frost and Cooper. You gave them both until the end of the Sanders case to get their partnership issues worked out. Short of that mountain of paperwork threatening to collapse your desk the Sanders case is closed."

Jane was quiet for a minute. Frost and Cooper. Both individually excellent cops. That had never been questioned. What had been questioned was whether two individually excellent cops could come together and work as a team. Jane needed to decide if she felt that they could and would be an effective partnership.

"I think I know what I need to do," she said looking at Korsak. "Do I still have Cavanaugh's and your full support?"

"Yes. I just spoke with him this morning. We both will support whatever you decide to do. He wanted me to let you know that there are spots open in every division except Vice so we will be able to find them both new homes if need be."

Jane nodded. "I really should discuss this with them both before the weekend. They've been anxious since I've been back and there is no point dragging this out any longer. Can I borrow your office?"

"Sure. Do you need me to sit in on the conversations?"

"That's not necessary. I can handle this. But thanks for asking."

"I have to run some reports down to Central Command. You can use my office now if you would like."

Jane nodded again. "Thanks. Let's get this over with. Can you tell Frost I'd like a word with him first?"

It was time for Korsak to nod. He gathered up two files from his mountain of paperwork and headed out. She watched as he entered the bullpen and stopped at Frost's desk. She assumed when Frost looked up at her in Korsak's office was when Korsak said she was now waiting to speak with him. Looking over at Cooper, it was clear she understood that today was the day their futures in Homicide would be settled.

Jane continued to watch the scene at Frost and Cooper's desks play out. Korsak had wandered off and Frost had stood up but hadn't stepped forward towards the office yet. He turned to Cooper and said something. Jane couldn't tell what he said but it had an immediate impact on Cooper. She dropped her head, her eyes closed and a genuine smile spread across her face. After a few seconds she looked back up and said something back to Frost. Again, she couldn't hear what was said and had never been one capable of lip reading. His reaction to Cooper was similar. He smiled his best Barry Frost smile. The one that lit up his whole face. And then, he headed to the office.

As he entered Jane motioned for him to have a seat. "Barry, I told you and Riley that you both had until we closed the Sanders case to work out your issues as partners. We are at the end of the Sanders case and I need to make a decision about how to proceed with…" Jane got that far before Frost cut her off.

"Jane, I need to say something before you finish."

"Ok…"

"I don't know what your decision is but I wanted you to know where I stand before we go further into this conversation. Jane, I was wrong."

Jane had to bite down hard on the inside of her cheek not to smile immediately. She had to keep her poker face. She looked at Frost and nodded for him to keep speaking.

"Riley is a good detective. I don't think I ever really gave her a real shot with me and that's my fault. We lost three months of time where we could have gotten to know each other's habitats. Each other's strength and weaknesses. Instead, I moped and pouted for three months and refused to try to get to know her. All of this is my fault.

"I had a great partner and when you moved up I was selfish and worried about myself. I should have seen these last three months as my way to step up and do for another detective what you did for me. Jane, you were patient with me. You were the only one that didn't write me off because I couldn't look at a body and not hurl. You took the time to get to know me and you took the time to show me not the mechanics of law enforcement but the guts of it.

"I am the detective I am today because of you. And for three months I could have helped Riley with her transition the same as you helped me. But I didn't. I let you and Korsak down when I didn't. I let myself down when I knew I wasn't but let it continue. For that, I'm sorry. I'd like the chance to fix this. I owe her those three months back. You gave me mine. I owe her hers. I'd like to still be her partner. But if you don't think that is a good idea, I'd like you to keep her in Homicide and re-assign just me to another division. She's earned her way here and she shouldn't have to pay the price for my failure."

Jane finally unclenched her jaw and let the smile she was suppressing cross her face. "Barry, I was patient with you because you are an excellent detective. If I had ever once thought you didn't have what it would take to be a Homicide detective I would have kicked you to the curb and requested a new partner. And you are right. You do owe Riley those three months. And you'll have your chance to repay it to her."

"You're not going to break us up?"

"No. We all were thrown a bit when all the changes happened and I don't think any of us handled it right. But you two finally started to work together this week and you both started to listen and trust each other. That's all I really wanted to see. The start of that partnership. Everything else will fall into place."

"Jane, thanks," sincerity ringing in his tone.

"I trust you won't disappoint me."

"I won't." Frost smiled. "Anything else?"

"Just a question, which you don't have to answer if you don't want to. What did you say to Riley before coming in here?"

Frost smiled, "I told her that no matter what was about to happen, she helped save my best friend and I would never forget that."

Jane was a bit thrown by that. She knew she was a close friend of Barry's but he had never called her his 'best friend' before. She grinned widely. "Barry…"

"I'll go tell Riley it's her turn in the Principal's office. Do you and Maura want to have drinks at the Robber later?"

She let the subject change happen. She would speak with him more later. "Not tonight. We have plans. Sorry."

Frost nodded and headed out to his desk. Jane could tell he put his best poker face on and wasn't going to give Riley any indication about what to expect. He could be a little shit sometimes. But he did indicate that it was Riley's turn to speak with her.

Riley entered the office and sat down. Before Jane could even say anything she started speaking. "Jane, you can't send Frost to another division. He is an excellent Homicide detective and I can't be a reason for the department to lose his talents. Homicide is too important to lose such a good detective. I'll request a transfer."

"Riley, I completely agree with you. Homicide is too important a division to lose such a good detective." Riley's eyes narrowed and she dropped her head. Jane was keeping Frost and moving her. She'd hoped for better but understood. She was getting transferred out. "Which is why any transfer request from you will be immediately denied."

That snapped Riley's head back up. "Excuse me?"

"Riley, I'm not splitting you and Frost. I still think you both will make great partners. I think we all started to see that this week. You stopped trying to play at being a Homicide detective and you started actually being one. As long as you keep that up, we won't have any issues. Riley, no matter what you have to stay true to yourself. Trust in that."

"Thank you! I won't let you down."

"No, I don't expect that you will," Jane said with a smile.

"Is there anything else?" Riley asked.

"One thing," she had asked Frost and now wanted to ask Riley. "Before Frost came in here, what did you say to him?"

"I told him I wanted to stay partnered to the man that helped save the lives of my future sisters-in-law. My future family."

Jane had the same emotional reaction to what Riley said as she had to what Frost had said. And the emotions were a bit overwhelming. So she just nodded to Riley as she wasn't really able to think of the right thing to say to that.

"Will I see you and Frankie for dinner Sunday?"

"Of course," Riley smiled. "Your mother said she would teach me how to make the gnocchi."

Jane smiled and dismissed Riley. This part of her morning had been perfect. That gave her hope for this evening. For tonight, tonight she had a surprise for Maura that she hoped would go over just as well, if not better.

Like Jane, Maura was buried in paperwork. And she had only taken one day off this week. But since hers was the signature needed for every lab result and report to be considered final, she was flooded with items needing her approval. She was determined to finish everything because her plans this weekend were to shut out the world and hopefully stay in bed with her wife for the entire weekend until Sunday family dinner. But that was in jeopardy if she couldn't get through the stack of reports sitting on her desk. She looked at the stack and the time. If she powered through she could finish with maybe only working an hour over tonight. Tomorrow spent in bed with Jane was worth an extra hour here tonight. She grabbed her phone to send a message to Jane.

_Buried in paperwork. I won't be done until at least 7_

A response was almost instantaneous.

_Same here. Finish tonight. You're all mine tomorrow_

Maura smiled. She knew Jane had the same idea about how they would spend this weekend as she did.

_Agreed. We are locking every door and window tomorrow!_

Another instant answer.

_And turning off the phones. Neither of us is on call. Now, stop typing and finish signing Doc_

They were definitely on the same page about tomorrow.

_I'll see you at home. XOX_

They had driven separately and Maura knew Jane would finish before her. So she put her phone down and went back to work on the reports.

It wasn't until 7:45 pm that Maura pulled out of the station and was heading home. She was tired but they would get their weekend of solitude. She has gotten completely caught up. She sent one text to Jane letting her know she was on her way. She got an immediate answer.

_Drive safe. _

Ten minutes later, Maura pulled her car into the garage and was happy to finally be home. She entered the house and had expected Jo to come bounding for her with her normal greeting but the house was quiet. "Jane?" she called out but didn't get any answer. She thought maybe Jane was out taking Jo for a walk. So she headed the rest of the way into the house.

She rounded the corner and stood frozen in place. She was amazed at the sight that greeted her. The lights were off but there was plenty of light from what had to be hundreds of lit candles all over the living room, dining room and kitchen. She let her eyes scan the rooms and she noticed that the dining room table was set for two with all the correct utensils and plates. She also got the first whiff of what would be her dinner as it permeated from the kitchen and found the aroma to be intoxicating.

She stepped another few feet into the house and finally caught sight of Jane. What she saw took her breath away. Jane was leaning with her back up against the island in the kitchen. A genuine smile across her face. She was holding two things. In her right hand was a boutique of red roses. In her left hand was a gift wrapped box. And she was wearing a stunningly gorgeous black dress. The sight of her in the dress alone made Maura want to do nothing but tear it off of her as quickly as she could.

All of whatever this was had been completely unexpected for Maura. It was no one's birthday. It was not any sort of anniversary for them. It was just an ordinary Friday. But clearly there was more to this Friday than what she understood. She went to speak, "Jane, you look amazing!"

"Thank you. Welcome home Beautiful," was Jane's greeting in a soft, sexy tone. She slowly approached Maura and handed her the boutique of roses. As Maura took them, Jane placed a delicate kiss on her lips. When Maura tried to deepen the kiss, Jane pulled back. "Hhhmmm, no-no. Not yet my love," came from her in a sedative whisper that made Maura weak in the knees.

Catching herself she placed her hand on the island for some help with balance. "Jane? What is all of this?"

Jane looked around and started to point, "Dinner," as she pointed to the kitchen. "Candles," as she pointed to the all the light sources. "Ambience," as she pointed to the dining room table perfectly set. "Roses," as she pointed to the flowers Maura was now holding. "My wife," as she pointed to Maura. "And a gift for my wife," as she reached out and handed the gift wrapped box to her.

Maura took the gift but still had no clue what was going on. She held the gift in her hand but made no move to open it. Jane stood back and looked at her with one eyebrow raised. She patiently waited for Maura to open the gift. Finally, Maura opened the box. What was inside just confused her more than she already was. She looked up at Jane. "Jane?"

At this, Jane took Maura by the hand and headed into the living room. She sat her down on the couch and sat down right next to her. She took the box and its contents out of Maura's hands and placed it on the coffee table. She then turned her full attention to her wife.

"As crazy as this week turned out to be for us, something wonderful happened to me. Call it a dream. Call it a hallucination. Call it a premonition. Call it whatever you want. But I had an experience while I was unconscious that was just amazing Maur. I had an experience and it felt real, like it was really happening. And when I finally came to in the hospital I thought of two things.

"First, I thought about how lucky I was to wake up and find you there waiting for me. To have you there holding my hand. I thought of how incredibly blessed I was to have you in my life. That you are my wife and that I get to love and hold you every day of this life we have together. I love you Maura. I love you so much.

"Second, all I could think about was the dream, or hallucination or whatever you want to call it I had was something that I wanted to come true. I wanted it to be real. It was something that just felt so right to me and I knew in that moment that it was something that could be. Something that really could happen and that very thought filled me with such a sense of love."

"Jane, what dream?" Maura understood that one of the side effects of Propofol could be intense dreams or images. But she didn't follow what Jane's dream had been about.

"Maura, I had this dream that I was remembering going to Fenway for the very first time. Pop took me for my sixth birthday and it was amazing. And in this dream, the colors, smells, sounds were all exactly how I remembered them from when I saw everything for the first time."

This made Maura look back at the gift. Maybe she was starting to understand what this might be. Maybe. But, she wasn't sure so she kept listening to Jane talk.

"But the thing was I wasn't a six year old in this dream. I was an adult. Only, I wasn't alone. Maura, I was taking my son, _our son_, to his first game at Fenway."

Maura released a slight gasp. That wasn't anything she was expecting to hear. Tears started to slowly trickle down her cheeks. She reached over and picked up the Red Sox cap that all she previously saw was that it was too small for her own head. She suddenly realized that it was a youth baseball cap. A baseball cap meant for her future child.

"I was so excited. So happy. I was remembering how I felt as a child and then I was about to experience the same magic but as the parent this time. When I finally came to in the hospital, I wanted the dream to be true. I wanted us to have a family. Maura, I want us to have a family together."

Tears still running down her face, "But you said…your job…" she was too overcome with emotions to finish a thought.

"I'm still worried and I still have those concerns. But, Maura. The pure joy and love I felt just at the thought of having my son witness something so incredible that I still remember the details 30 years later made me believe that kids, a family, it's all worth the risk. I can live with the concerns and risks. I can. Now, I just don't think I can live without you and I having a complete family together. I want that. I really do want that. And I want that with you."

"I want that too. I love you so much Jane. I want nothing more in this world than to have a family with you."

Jane gently wiped away the tears that were falling down Maura's cheeks. "I can't promise I won't get hurt. I can't promise anything bad can't happen. But I can promise you that I will love you every day I am on this planet. And I can promise I will love our kids with my whole heart. I won't let fear keep that kind of love out of our lives. I won't."

Maura was overjoyed. She leaned into Jane and kissed her. The kiss of filled with love and promise. And it grew as it went on. Lips, tongues, and hands all getting into the action. Both women letting themselves get lost in the kiss. Breaking for air only when it became absolutely necessary, Maura whispered, "I love you."

Jane, panting slightly, answered back, "I love you too."

Maura slid in for another kiss and this time started to use her body as leverage to get Jane onto her back. Jane soon found herself pinned down on the couch with Maura lying on top of her masterfully controlling the pace and vigor of the kiss that was consuming them. Maura was quickly returning to the place where she had wanted to rip the very dress Jane was wearing off her. She was hoping Jane wasn't too far behind her. It was becoming clear that their weekend was starting just a bit earlier than expected. And Maura was absolutely fine with that.

From underneath, Jane tried to speak in between kisses. "Mau…..dinner…." was about all she could get out.

Maura wasn't about to break the scene or the mood. In between an increasing tempo of passionate kisses she managed her answer, "We can….order….take out…later."

The last intelligent sound she would hear from Jane for the next few hours was her response, "Much…..later."

The weekend was definitely starting early.

**A/N Thanks to everyone for the reviews, comments, messages, etc. I continue to be humbled by the support and feedback. It's just amazing that people take time out of their lives to read anything I am writing. That act alone is beyond appreciated. Several of you are requesting yet another sequel….that would make it a quintology….which I still don't think is an actual word. **

**I can't promise anything. I can only say I write what's in my head. So when #5 ends up there….you will all know it.**


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